The Lady Thief
by koisurufortunecookie
Summary: - CROSSPOSTED FROM AO3 - A teen girl from the sticks finds her life uprooted as she's convicted of a crime she did not commit. Expelled and sent off to Tokyo to attend an all-girls academy, life somehow manages to get more chaotic from here. (A retelling of Persona 5 with one major difference- every Phantom Thief is female. More information can be found inside!)
1. CH1: The End of The Phantom Thieves?

**(Hello everyone! It's been years since I posted anything to FF (I used to do Homestuck fic back in 2010-2011 on an account I lost access to), so forgive any errors I make as I try to remember how it works around here. This story is being crossposted from AO3, and since it's still being written there, I'll be updating this one with a new chapter every five days until we catch up with it. Once we get to that point, I'll update this story within a day of publishing it on AO3. Thanks, and let's continue on to the real author's notes!)**

 _In regards to this story: why did I decide to do a retelling with all-female Thieves? Well, one reason is because I just finished the female route in P3 and I theorized what it would be like in Persona 5. Then that really got me thinking deeper about this. One of P5's biggest themes is fighting against those in power, the underdogs of society who were put there unfairly snapping back at their oppressors and bringing justice to the world. I think the game does a stellar job at telling that story with a co-ed group, but I did start to think: wouldn't this also have been interesting if the main characters were female? As the gender that traditionally got (and let's be honest, often still does get) the short end of the stick in the world, I wonder how that might have affected their tale of fighting against a broken society? Would the villains view them differently? How might their relationships with each other change? I had so many ideas floating around that I decided to write out how I think it might have gone._

 _Now, as a few notes…_

 _\- I changed names where I felt I should based on gender. That included giving Akira a new name- I know Akira is technically gender neutral, but it's always seemed pretty masculine to me, not to mention that one of my closest male friends has that name. It was weird to write it because it made me think of him, so lady Joker gets a new name!_

 _\- There's going to be more sexism/sexual content in this story than the original game had, especially around the Kamoshida arc. I felt it was necessary if I really wanted to portray what I felt a group of all girls in the same situation as the co-ed thieves would experience. If you're worried these themes may bother you, please read with caution! I'll warn you in the notes if any particular chapter gets more intense than usual. That being said, this isn't smut, so don't expect all graphic sexual content. If you handled the normal game, you're proooobably fine._

 _\- The genders of all the non-thief confidants will remain the same with the exception of Mishima. With Shujin being rewritten as an all-girl's school, that had to be changed._

 _\- The first chapter of this story rips a lot of text directly from the game. I'll do that with a certain degree of frequency throughout the story, especially at points where I don't feel anything else can be changed about the dialogue, but it won't be nearly as blatant as this one is._

 _Alright, that's enough of me. Let us start the game!_

* * *

Alarm bells ring out, and the casino floor falls into chaos. The intense focus each patron had on their respective game of chance is abruptly broken, heads turning and voices chattering in confusion as they search for the source of the disturbance. They won't find it looking side to side- a cloaked figure is leaping overhead from the light fixtures, pausing on one to observe the crowd below her. Briefcase clutched under her arm, a smirk grows on her masked face as a group of suit-clad men pushing their way through the casino finally take notice of her, pointing upwards and drawing the crowd's attention her way. With another leap, the girl is on the move again. Voices crackle through her earpiece as she jumps from various ceiling fixtures like it was nothing.

 _"Good. Now get running!"_ A childish voice declares.

 _"This is our only chance!"_ A much more dignified one, this time.

 _"Stay calm! You can get away now!"_ The next one is punctuated with a crash as the guards trying to follow her movements from below knock over a waitress in their rush, her tray falling to the floor as the champagne glasses smash.

 _"We'll retrieve the briefcase on our end."_ The girl moves through the shadows cast by the dimmed light, subconsciously nodding in agreement with the new voice- until she recalls the owner almost certainly can't see her in such detail, at least not while she's standing up here. _Silly_ , she mentally chides herself. She's pulled from her own thoughts by a new transmission breaking through, fuzzy and choppy as it speaks about suspects and positions. Certainly not one she recognizes, if her furrowed brow is anything to go by.

 _"Hm…? What was that…?"_ One of the familiar voices seems puzzled as well. The first voice she heard butts back in, however.

 _"Don't worry about us. Just concentrate on getting away!"_ The cloaked girl was more than ready to take that advice. Leaping from a honeycomb patterned platform to a translucent purple fixture, the same voice continues to speak through her earpiece. _"But I have to say, showing yourself above that crowd earlier was an excellent move. Nice work as always, Joker."_

One of the voices speaks up, a teasing tone audible. The owner was almost certainly wearing a teasing smile. _"I bet Skull wouldn't pull it off that smoothly."_

Another familiar voice comes through, tone ladylike, smooth and critical. _"This happens because you have no sense for aesthetics."_

This time, it's a boisterous voice that rings through. _"Nobody asked you, Inari!"_ The cloaked girl smiles as she continues to jump above the crowd like it was nothing, making it onto another platform and curving around a bend. There is pause only when she sees the nearby ledge- and more importantly, the three guards standing atop of it. They shout out instructions as she's spotted, and a voice through her headset speaks up, sounding significantly more tense than before.

 _"Just run! Get out of there!"_ Despite the rising anxiety of her team, the masked girl shows no such fear. Redirecting her course, she leaps onto another honeycomb patterned platform, long black trench-coat billowing behind her like the wings of a bird. Landing with one red gloved hand to help balance herself, she continues to move at a rapid pace while the allied voices keep talking.

 _"Okay, the enemy's focus is on her. Looks like the rest of us can slip away."_ The girl's red ankle boots click on each platform she leaps to, but don't seem to affect her mobility in the slightest as she moves with an agile grace over a row of arches.

 _"Everyone remember where we're meeting up?"_ Another voice asks through her headset as the girl leaps onto a sign and up onto a balcony of sorts. One of the familiar voices assures this one that she'll guide them, but the mysterious girl's focus on the voices is broken as she halts, seeing two guards standing in her way.

"Stop right there!" One declares before he and his partner suddenly twitch, transforming from regular humans to bulking, masked figures. This bizarre transmogrification doesn't even faze the girl, nor does the appearance of an identical beast behind her. As she turns, curly black hair bouncing over her shoulders, a voice in her earpiece calls out.

 _"Take em down, Joker!"_ With a smirk, the girl doesn't waste time. Leaping into the air with grace and onto the shoulders of the newest monster, she reaches down to rip off the mask it wears, shoving it back. With a flash of red and black goo and a gurgle, it goes through a second transformation- this time into a towering creature that looks like the product of a bull and a rattlesnake's unholy union, its blocky tail swinging behind it as it growled down at the intruder. This didn't seem to faze the girl at all. Ripping off her mask with a flash of red, a winged figure appeared behind her, shrouded in shadow. It was only visible for a moment. With a twist and a pointed arm, the figure flapped its wings, unleashing a flurry of twisted ribbons of red and black upon the beast. In just one hit, it had fallen with a scream, vanishing into black mist with a hiss like water on a burning stove. With the girl putting on the mask yet again, the winged creature vanished, leaving just the girl and the faint smell of something having just rotted. _"Okay, pull out before backup gets here!"_

There was no time for gloating, however, and the voice in her earpiece reminded her of that. There was a flurry of other voices, but the bubbling of black liquid and subsequent appearance of a new masked guard stopped them. Raising its arm, it swung at the masked girl with a baton buzzing with electricity in its hand. Despite the speed at which it moved, she was faster- with a flip, she vaulted herself onto a platform behind her, jumping to a lower balcony and landing with grace. No enemies around this time- good. _"Joker, behind you! Go through that door!"_

With the guidance of her voice, the girl turned and bolted through the door, exiting the lavish casino and entering what seemed to be a sort of staff hallway. The only decorations were various glued posters declaring multiple statements of victory- a far cry from the luxurious carpeting, gold panelling, and frankly excessive amount of lights outside. _"You should be able to get out that way! Hurry!"_

 _"Dude, can she even hear us!?"_ The boisterous voice from before sounded worried.

 _"Don't worry, I'm picking up everyone's voices."_ Another voice assured that one. _"Just go, Joker!"_ She didn't need to be told twice. Speeding off, the girl took a hard right through another door, bolting down the twisting halls. Running down a set of stairs, she heard that boisterous voice once more.

 _"Tch! We got away from a bunch of those guys in black, but there're still loads more of em… "_ The frustration in that girl was evident, and our masked heroine could almost picture the snarl on the face of her ally as she bolted through another door, entering a hallway with a glass window. A guard ran by on the other side, hand up to touch his own earpiece.

"Where'd they go?! Dammit! I can't confirm the intruder's location!" He cursed before running off. With a smile, the masked girl moved forwards, halting only as she turned and noticed that another guard was present- this one not behind any glass. Quickly darting behind a nearby box, the girl stayed quiet and waited for the familiar voices to come back- and come back they did.

 _"Stop, up ahead! This is bad- you'll never get away if you just keep fighting! Hide in the shadows and sneak past when you see an opening."_ Ah, she loved doing this. With an inhuman flash, the girl darted forward from one box to another, repeating the action with a speed that made her seem more like a quick brushstroke than a human girl. Waiting behind the box closest to the guard, she simply knelt patiently as she waited for him to confirm that he hadn't seen her, running off in the direction she had just come from before she uncloaked herself.

 _"Now's your chance! Run for the stairs!"_ And with that direction, the girl moved, darting up the stairs and into the darkness. Up and around a corner, she realized the next glass panel held a control room behind it. Stopping and pressing herself up against the wall next to it, the girl listened as a man amidst a room full of technicians hurriedly tapping away on computers stood up and practically shouted into his cell phone.

"She's not alone! Find them and kill them all!" If she hadn't had such trust in her team, a statement like that might have worried her. But they were a capable group- surely the others could watch out for themselves. Without wasting another second, the girl kept running, passing the control room without detection. Around a bend, up another set of stairs- the sound of footsteps that weren't her own heels made her acutely aware that she was being followed. Bursting through a door at the top, she ran forwards and braced herself on the railing- Wait, railing? Looking down… she was above the main casino floor again!

 _"Something wrong?"_ The voice chimed in. _"The exit should be up ahead."_ Raising her head, the girl looked forwards… towards a giant stained glass window.

For the first time since her chase began, she spoke. "Through there…?" Despite her dramatic and flashy appearance right now, the girl's voice certainly couldn't have belonged to someone who was older than her teens. Even so, it carried a mature feeling, and if her feats of skill up until now hadn't proven her to be powerful and clever beyond her years, perhaps her voice might have leant a hint.

Unlike her own, the voice of the girl speaking to her seemed to belong to someone younger. _"Nnh… That's just how it is! After that commotion, the bottom floor's-"_

She was cut off by a voice from earlier. _"- Completely closed off. Hey, can you make it?!"_

Despite the worry in her teammate's voices, a moment of analysis and the girl had a plan. A smile snuck onto her face as she made her decision on how she'd approach this. Just as she did, a voice from behind her shouted out. "Over there!" Tsk. Guards. Turning, the girl observed three men standing in the hall directly behind her, all wearing suits and all aiming pistols in her direction. "There's nowhere to run!"

A statement like that felt like a challenge, and the girl couldn't resist one of those. She gave them a stare before simply vaulting onto the railing, turning to her right and running across it as their surprised gasps faded into the background noise of the chaos occurring below as she was noticed. Stopping and crouching right in front of the stained glass window, the girl paused to look behind her at the guards standing where she had been just seconds before. She granted them a smile as she braced herself. "See ya!"

And with that, she jumped directly into the window to the sound of the screaming patrons below. Arms previously held up to protect her head fell to her side as she soared out, nearly floating out above the world as the voices chided her for her dramatic exit. _"What a showoff!"_

 _"You're so reckless. You know that?"_ Despite the scolding words, the voice was light and seemed more playfully annoyed than upset. Everyone knew how capable she was, after all. No need to worry about her flair for the dramatic. The girl landed with a roll, steadying herself on the ground as glass fell around her. Taking a moment to gather her bearings, the girl stood up and faced away from the casino- only to be abruptly blinded by lights. Nothing at all like the glimmering, gaudy lights present inside the building, though- these were lights from _police vehicles_.

 _"Enemies here?! These readings… it can't be!"_ For the first time, the voice sounded genuinely panicked. The others joined it.

 _"What happened?!"_

 _"An ambush!?"_

 _"Joker, can you handle this?!"_

 _"Joker!"_

 _"Oh no!"_

The girl stared out at the crowd, nearly dumbfounded for a split second, just as an officer called out. "Capture her!"

That was all she needed to break from her trance and start running. Searchlights trailed her as she darted to the right, running as fast as her slender legs could take her. Reaching a wall, she swung herself up onto the ladder of a fire escape, barely escaping the crowding officers below as she scurried upwards. She looked down briefly upon the small army of shouting policemen, a tiny smile on her face. Even now, the girl wasn't phased.

But she certainly wasn't incapable of such a feeling- something that was proved as she reached the top of the ladder to find a squadron of officers waiting for her. There was a moment of pause, the world going still, before one raised his gun and smacked her in the face. With a cry, the girl fell from the ladder, tumbling down to the sea of officers below. Hands grabbed, pushed, pulled, and in an instant she was on the ground face down, hands pulled behind her back and a knee pinning her down by the neck. As her head spun from the impact of the fall, she barely managed to regain her composure enough to register a man in uniform approaching. He wasn't wearing the tactical gear of the rest- this was clearly a senior officer.

"Didn't expect to find some girl." He spoke as he looked down on the masked girl, kneeling down to grab her by the hair and lift her face up to look at him, ignoring her pained grunt. "You have your teammate to thank for this. You were sold out."

The shocked expression on the girl's face wasn't hidden by the mask. Releasing her hair, the man stood back up. "Suspect confirmed. Cuff her." One of the men behind her grabbed her arm, pulling it up against her useless squirming. The cold twist of metal and the clink of a cuff sealed her fate.

The girl had been caught.

…

She awoke to a splash of cold water over her head. Barely managing a tiny groan, the girl attempted to lift her aching head up despite the protests from her bruised neck. Tired grey eyes attempted to adjust to the room around her. Men in suits, grey walls, security camera… Where was she?

"No dozing off." The closest man, the scary one with the strong jaw and cold expression spoke. The girl squirmed, the cold handcuffs behind her keeping her bound to the chair she was seated in. Her neck ached as she turned to look at them, bruised face contorting in confusion and fear as she realized she was trapped.

"You still don't get it, do you?" The suited man spoke again as the girl pulled helplessly against the cuffs. Her school uniform was soaked from the ice water, but she didn't think the cold turtleneck and blazer were the only reason a chill was suddenly sent down her spine. "Give it up!" With an angry shout, the main lifted his leg, kicking her directly in the stomach. Gagging, the girl was helpless as her chair fell down from the kick, slipping away from it as she tumbled down onto the floor. With her hands behind her back, she couldn't prevent her head from smacking off the cold concrete floor. Hissing in pain, she had no time to react before a shoe was pressed up onto her head.

"Come on, cooperate. Or what, do you want another shot?" Shoe pressing into her pounding skull, the man spoke with a quiet anger. The girl's eyes drifted over to the wall where the camera was recording everything. Following her gaze, the man looked over at it as well before shaking his head and kneeling down, grabbing her by the hair and lifting her head up. He smelt like cigarette smoke up close, and the girl's nose crinkled. "Huh? What about the camera? Are you thinking it can be used as video evidence?"

As a matter of fact… yes, she had been. Well, maybe not thinking it- after everything that had happened these past few months (that she could at least recall, even in her fractured mental state- she certainly hadn't been a normal student), she was more than convinced of the corruption amongst the police. Surely some bastard in power would keep them from using this tape. But even after everything she'd seen, she had at least been hoping they could. Still, declaring that would be… unwise, to say the least. She spoke, previously confident and cool voice weak and strained. "Of course not…"

"So you're not that dumb." Said the man, throwing her head down and standing up. "Which is good, 'cause we get to take as much time as we NEED!" With that last word, he brought back his leg to hoof her in the stomach again. With a wheezed cough, the girl started to gag, curling in on herself from the force. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes that she could barely hold back, the soaked back strands of hair sticking to her face creating a display that was nothing like the cocky, charismatic girl hopping around the casino. Standing back, the man observed her pained attempts to keep it together. "What's with that weak expression? On your period or something, princess? If that's the worst you can take, you're in for a rough time." Stepping back, the man walked to one of the other suited men, taking a clipboard from him and reading off of it to the writhing girl on the floor.

"Obstruction of justice, blackmail, defamation, possession of weapons…" His tone was bored as he read it off like it was a shopping list. The idea might have made the girl chuckle if she was in any other situation. Hi honey, what do you need from the store? Oh, some eggs, milk, blackmail, defamation, and maybe bread if it's on sale. Her delirious line of thought was interrupted as the man spoke again, this time with a more serious voice. "Manslaughter too, yeah? Talk about the works. To think that all those crimes were lead by a bitch like this. And you seemed to be enjoying every second of it… Huh? You should know your place."

With a flick of his head, the man motioned to the other suited man who'd originally handed him the clipboard to move forwards. Grabbing her roughly and throwing her into an upright position, the girl braced for the worst… but was surprised when she felt her handcuffs being removed instead. Reaching forwards, she rubbed at her marked wrists- one of which had been cuffed so tightly that it was cut, dried blood running down her forearm and under the sleeve of her blazer. The broad jawed man walked forwards, crouching in front of her and holding out the clipboard and producing a pen from his jacket. "Sign here. It's a confession under your name."

Ah. So that's why they released her. She'd been confused over the momentary act of kindness from the men who'd shown her none up until now. The man leant in again, once again overpowering her with the scent of smoke. "Don't expect to walk out of here in one piece. We are going to make you understand that one must take full responsibility for their actions."

Even in her hazy, pained state, she was able to muster up a cold look in the man's direction as she took the pen and clipboard from his hands. Holding it up, she strained her mind as she tried to remember. Confession… a name. They'd need a name, but… her mind was so hazy. Focus, focus! She was…

Aki Kurusu.

She struggled with the kanji, shaking hands trying to make out the fine lines of each one. Remembering her name had been a struggle enough- writing the kanji was a new challenge in itself. But she finished, pausing before handing it back to the man. After that, things were fuzzy again. He'd taken it, said some things to her, and spoken to the other men in the room, but…

It was black.

…

By the time Aki awoke, she was sitting in a chair at a table. No cuffs this time, she noted groggily- and she had company. Not the man from before, but a woman in her mid-twenties with grey hair combed to the side. The presence of another female didn't make the atmosphere any less tense, even if the black suited woman seemed a bit more sympathetic towards her plight judging by her expression. "... I didn't expect it to be you."

Even with her softer tone, there was a determination behind her voice that Aki wasn't nearly drugged enough to trifle with. "You'll be answering my questions this time." The grey haired woman's attention was caught by something on the floor- a syringe, to be specific. She grimaced at the sight. "Those bastards…" Turning back and leaning in, she looked Aki in the eyes. There was no unpleasant smell of smoke this time, only a very light scent of perfume. "Can you hear me? It seems you've been through a lot. Almost anything can happen here… and I can't stop them. That's why I need you to answer me honestly. I don't have much time either."

Leaning back, the woman crossed her arms as she looked Aki over. "What was your objective? Why did you cause such a major incident? I didn't think it was a prank from the get-go, but I couldn't assemble a case for prosecution. It's because I couldn't figure out the method behind it."

Aki couldn't help but smile, even if it hurt her swollen lip. Even in a situation as humiliating as the one she'd found herself in… looks like she still had some leverage over the people around her. "Of course you couldn't… Nijima-san."

Sae Nijima. Right, that's who this was. Her brain was a jumbled mess of names and memories and instructions, but she'd at least managed to pluck this woman's name from that cacophony of pain and noise. They did know each other, that much had to be true, but from where… Aki had no memory of that right now. In the sea of chaos inside her drugged brain, picking that out would prove to be another challenge.

 _Sea of… Haven't I heard something like that before…? What came next? Why can't I remember?_

Sae sighed, pursing her lips. "I need to know how you did this. This is my case, after all. It seems you're coherent if you can remember my name." The grey haired woman wasted no time after coming to that conclusion, instantly breaking into the questions. "When and where did you find out about that world? How is it even possible to steal another's heart? Tell me your account of everything."

Looking the black haired girl in the eye, Sae's focused expression was an utter contrast to the lost and hazy look on Aki's face. Had they used an adult dosage of that drug on a teenage girl? "Kurusu… Start from the beginning."

For a moment, Aki was silent. What would be defined as the beginning of this roller coaster ride that her life had become?

 _... You are held captive._

 _A prisoner of fate to a future that has been sealed in advance._

 _This is truly an unjust game… your chances of winning are almost none._

 _But if my voice is reaching you, there may yet be a possibility open to you…_

 _I be you you… please overcome this game… and save the world…_

 _The key to victory lies within the memory of your bonds- the truth that you and your friends grasped._

 _It all began that day… When the game was started half a year ago…_

 _For the sake of your world's future… as well as your own… you must remember…_

...

She took a deep breath, and allowed the memories of that first month to come to mind.

* * *

 _And there's chapter one! This is a retelling of the original tale, so most plot events will remain more or less the same. However, they won't be quite so identical to this chapter- I just wanted to set the tone as best as I could, so I tried my best to recreate this scene faithfully. I won't be going over every identical detail to the original game from this point on so things won't get boring, and I'll add some new scenes that weren't in canon. Expect it to get more interesting from this point forwards!_

 _That's all from me. Please let me know how you liked it and if there's anything I could improve on! I'll update as soon as I can!_


	2. CH2: Back To The Start

_Hi there! I don't have any particularly special notes for this chapter. Thank you to the people who've left reviews and followed the story up until now, I really appreciate it! Especially one particular review from last chapter, which made me laugh so hard that my stomach hurt. Anyways, let's get going!_

* * *

Aki Kurusu awoke with a jolt as the train's sharp turn brought her back to consciousness. Grimacing, she reached up to rub the back of her neck- sleeping on the train couldn't be good for someone's posture, especially not when she was bumping up against the metal making up the car's interior. Nobody else seemed to notice her rude awakening- everyone else was off in their own little world, the packed commuter car full of people keeping to themselves. Texting on their smartphones, reading books, simply sitting and looking at nothing in particular…

"Mental shutdowns? Ooooh, sounds scary!"

Or talking a little too loudly, apparently. Aki's gaze shifted to two other high school girls across from her. They weren't wearing the same school uniform she was, so they wouldn't be classmates- fine by her, seeing as how they apparently had no volume control whatsoever. Who'd want to be classmates with them? Hopefully they were an anomaly amongst high school girls in the city… The black haired girl had no clue how long she'd last if everyone at her new school was this loud and ignorant of the people around them.

"Yeah!" The taller one replied to her friend, both unaware of Aki's observation. "It's when people just shut down and do crazy stuff out of nowhere! They can't even remember it after! I read a rumour online that it's a curse!"

"You're waaaaay too into the occult!" Her friend laughed, sending both girls into giggles that were thankfully interrupted by the ding of the train. Looks like they'd arrived. Wasting no time, Aki picked up her bag, hurrying off the train. Just another face in a flood of people. It was so different from home… No, now wasn't the time to start missing her old life. Like it or not, Tokyo was going to be her home for the next year, and she'd better get used to this. The glasses-clad girl followed the signs pointing out of the station, leading her right into the famous Shibuya scramble crossing. It really did look identical to the movies, a concrete jungle with a sea of humanity going every which way. She was so caught up in the sight that she didn't remember to look down at the map on her phone until she was in the heat of it all, lost right in the middle of the human ocean. Startling back into reality, Aki quickly pulled her phone from her bag, pulling up the app to see if she was headed in the right direction.

She was, but something else caught her eye aside from the map. An icon in the middle of the screen, bright red with a strange black eyeball pattern in the center. Weird- maybe it was an ad? Still, it was obscuring her screen, so she went to slide and delete it, a pale finger reaching down to flick it away. But instead of moving, it simply grew as she touched it. Larger, larger… And with one vibration of the phone, Aki realized that the bustle of Shibuya had faded. Pausing, she looked up from her screen to examine something to her left and froze- not unlike the salaryman she now saw, completely still despite him being mid-step. The light breeze that was blowing back his tie had stopped, but the blue fabric was still hovering in the air. Unbelieving grey eyes darted to the person directly behind him. The middle school boy behind the salaryman was also still as a statue, caught mid-yawn while his equally frozen friend leant forward to catch a dropped notebook. The journal was stuck in the air, not falling as it should. Time had simply… stopped.

Unable to believe it, Aki slowly turned forwards to see something even more shocking than the impossibly still pedestrians- a giant blue flame erupting on the other side of the street. In the suddenly silent crossing, it was the only noise, fire crackling and whooshing as it rose into the sky. Too shocked to do anything else, the girl watched as a malicious face started to grow within the flame, licking upwards and slowly becoming more and more human…

Until it became hers.

Aki Kurusu stared back at a version of herself with a vicious smile, hair undone, glasses gone, and looking absolutely _terrifying_. Her blood ran cold.

And just like that, it was gone. She was torn from her shocked state by someone jostling her from behind, muttering at her to keep moving. Like it had never even changed, the crowd and noise of the big city had returned. The salaryman hummed a song under his breath, the middle school boy finished his yawn loudly, and Aki heard his friend's book smack onto the pavement. Everything was back to normal, and all she could do was hustle forwards, wondering what had just happened. A hallucination…? Had to be. Maybe she wasn't used to whatever lay in the air of the Tokyo train system, and it had given her a stress vision. Anything made more sense than it being real. No, she couldn't think about that. There had been too much happening in her life to try and divert energy towards a blue tower of fire with her face. It wasn't possible, she decided as she stuffed her phone into the pocket of her blazer.

Aki kept her head down, moving forwards.

* * *

Finding the cafe was a struggle. After entering Yongen-Jaya in the first place, Aki had nearly gotten lost amongst the twisted little streets (though the smaller feel of this particular area reminded her of home, which was a small comfort) trying to find the Sakura residence only to discover that the owner was probably at his cafe. _Couldn't even bother to take a day off and meet the girl living with you?_ , she thought bitterly as she navigated the streets yet again before reminding herself that she should be grateful he'd even taken her in. Her parents had told her that before sending her off from their rural town this morning, stern faced and with a disappointment in their eyes that made Aki want to curl up in a ball and scream that it wasn't her fault. She must have looked frustrated as she pushed open the door to Cafe LeBlanc, because the man behind the counter gave her an inquisitive look in lieu of a greeting. After an awkward moment of silence, a realization dawned over the bearded man's face. "That uniform… Ah, you must be the kid. Didn't think they were sending a girl."

If he knew about that, this had to be him. "You're Sojiro Sakura?" Aki asked, pausing for a moment before realizing she needed to be polite, bowing quickly. "I'm Aki Kurusu. Please take care of me."

Looking her over again, Sojiro sighed, putting down the cup he was polishing and coming around to the other side of the counter. "Your stuff was shipped here already. It's upstairs in your room." Without saying anything else, the apron-clad man turned and walked upstairs, leaving Aki downstairs momentarily before she decided it would be in her best interests to follow him, chest-length low braids bouncing as she took the stairs two at a time to catch up. However, the sight at the top of the stairs quickly let her know that it was silly to try and rush to see this. The room was sizeable, but also an absolute mess- cobwebs, trash bags stuffed in a corner, books that hadn't been touched for god knows how long, and ancient dust that tickled her nose as she looked over the room. How long, exactly, had it been since Sojiro had last been up here?! The man didn't seem to share her concern, simply resting his hands on his hips as he looked over at her. "You'll be living here for the next year. Your probation will be lifted then as long as you don't cause any problems."

Unable to come up with much else to say, Aki simply spoke the only positive trait she could associate with this room. "It's… spacious." Sojiro shrugged in response.

"You weren't expecting five star accommodations, I hope. This isn't an all-expenses paid Tokyo vacation, country girl. You're on probation." The older man narrowed his eyes at her, crossing his arms. "I heard the story. You protected a woman getting harassed, the guy got injured, he sued, and your probation landed you here. You shouldn't stick your nose into adult business. You'll only cause trouble for everyone."

Aki let her eyes fall to the dusty floor. _Heard it a million times already, geezer_. "I understand." Saying her real thoughts on the matter wouldn't be such a good idea- she did just meet this guy, after all. Sojiro didn't respond, simply tilting his head to point in an opposite corner of the room.

"I left some cleaning supplies there. You have some free time before night, and I'd recommend you spend it tidying up." Sojiro looked around the cluttered room, seemingly just as aware as Aki was that it was a mess. "I'm taking you to Shujin Academy tomorrow to properly introduce ourselves to the staff. Your luggage arrived earlier, by the way. It's in that box." Motioning towards the cardboard case in the center of the room, the man had seemingly said his piece. Without so much as a goodbye, Sojiro turned and made his way down the stairs, leaving Aki alone in the quiet room. Looking around, the girl tried her best to see the good things about her new situation. Well… aside from being spacious, That window streaming in the light was quite pretty. It might be nice to spend a cool morning with a warm drink staring out it. And that desk would be good for studying once all the crap was off it. And she had a bed with blankets that looked cozy and only ever so slightly mothbitten…?

Forget it. This sucked, and no amount of positive thinking would cover that up. Sighing deeply, Aki went to the cardboard box in the center of the room that held what few things she'd decided to bring with her. Best to not let her school uniform get dirty. Trying not to think too hard about how Sojiro almost definitely had a key to the door downstairs and could walk in at any minute, Aki quickly changed into her old school's gym uniform, something she'd brought along specifically in case she needed to deal with something messy. Once that was done… Onto cleaning.

* * *

People from the countryside ought to be more knowledgeable of bugs than their city counterparts, right? And yet here Aki was, having found so many different types of spiders hiding around this room that she had never seen. How many species of eight-legged creeps were there?! Because she was almost certain she'd caught em' all just with this room cleanup. It was awful up here. At least the thorough scrubbing and dusting she'd given the area meant that she wouldn't be living in fear of them when she tried to fall asleep tonight- it was as tidy as it could be given the time she had.

Aki was so caught up in her cleaning (or her 'Spider Extracurricular Execution Squad' mission, as she'd mentally named it to make it less dull) that she barely noticed the creaking of old stairs as Sojiro made his way up. How long had it been since she started? A brief glance out the window showed a bright full moon streaming through the glass, so it had to have been a while. As the coffeeshop owner made it to the last step, he raised an eyebrow at the scene in front of him. "Huh. I was wondering what all the noise was. So you actually were cleaning."

Opening her mouth to make a snarky comment about how it would have been too hard to fall asleep if she felt like she was snoozing in a pigsty, Aki quickly decided against that, jaw snapping shut again. Maybe she could get away with that stuff at home, but with her probation officer who clearly didn't want her around? Yeah, probably better to keep the sass toned down for now. The girl merely pursed her lips, staring silently at Sojiro who shrugged in response to her silence. "The place doesn't look too bad, but I guess it's only natural you'd want to keep your room tidy. Make sure you get some sleep. I'm taking you to school tomorrow so you can meet your principal. I don't want you showing up exhausted because you were up too late."

 _A goodnight may have been nice_ , Aki thought to herself as Sojiro turned and left just as quickly as he had arrived, door to her room making a clicking sound as he closed it. He clearly wanted nothing to do with her... Moving her cleaning supplies back into the corner (they'd have to find a more suitable home eventually, but she was tired), the girl moved to sit down on her bed, ignoring the light squeaking noise emitting from the bed frame and stretching her arms out as her mind started to wander. Living in Tokyo had been a dream of pretty much every kid like her who was raised in the sticks, but she hadn't wanted it to happen like this. Was everyone in the city going to treat her like some sort of criminal the way Sojiro had? If they did, Aki would make a promise to herself never to bemoan growing up rurally ever again.

Thinking about her hometown again… had anyone texted her? Lying down on her bed, deciding to just sleep in her gym uniform, Aki pulled her phone out from the pocket of her trackpants. And… nope, nothing. Not even from her parents. Looks like she really would be the only one to wish herself goodnight. It wasn't like she'd been close to her parents, but they weren't terrible people. She'd messed up _bad_ if they were angry enough at her to not even check to see if she'd gotten to the city safely and if her caretaker was there. Sighing, the girl closed her messaging app and was prepared to turn off her phone when something caught her eye. That red and black icon from before was back, sitting on the screen like a newly downloaded app. It had just been some sort of annoying ad before, hadn't it? "... How'd you get here?" Aki mused to herself, brow furrowing at the program before sliding it into the trash one more time. If she had a virus, at least there were places in a big city like this that could help her get rid of it, but for now she needed to sleep. Leaning to the side a little to plug her smartphone into the wall, Aki returned to the bed, pulling up the blanket and staring at the ceiling. Her thoughts drifted to home once again, despite her best efforts to just go to sleep. _That day… I had to go home late._

She'd been returning from cram school, the cloudy night ensuring the only light came from the windows of the houses and streetlights she'd passed as she walked through the residential areas. The darkness meant her other senses were heightened, which was what allowed her to hear that argument in the first place. Something about a car, it had seemed… Turning her head to look, Aki had seen a woman and man struggling with each other, the man had been attempting to force the panicking woman into a waiting car. It was off her route home, but something had compelled Aki to move in that direction regardless.

Their exact words had faded from her memory, but the woman had been in a panic, demanding that the man stop. The man was drunk, the smell obvious even from a short distance, and his rough manhandling of such a frightened person… this wasn't just some drunk idiot making a mistake. Something was intrinsically _wrong_ with the man only several yards away from Aki. And just her luck, she'd been noticed by the man, dark eyes behind orange tinted glasses staring her down before he barked at her to get lost, trying again to force the woman into his car. Something in Aki's chest burned at the scene, and after a moment's hesitation…

… No. She would never get to sleep if she just replayed those events over and over again. She'd done it countless times since the incident, after all, and knew from experience she'd spend the whole night awake, attempting to hold back tears over how _unfair_ the whole thing had been. Tomorrow was an important day, and she couldn't show up looking like a complete mess like she always did after those nights.

"Goodnight." She whispered to herself, remarking at how lonely that sounded. The quiet hum of the vibrant city outside her window and the gentle creaks of the house settling were her only companions as she slowly drifted into sleep.

* * *

When Aki awoke, she was not in her bed. Her body ached as she realized she was lying on a hard slab of some sort of metal. Shifting and adjusting her eyes to the dimmer lights, she noticed that the brown wood ceiling of LeBlanc's attic had vanished, now stone and a deep blue. Squinting, she slid off the bed, and only upon standing did she realize her attire had changed. A black and white prisoners uniform, a pair of chain cuffs around her hands, and one long manacle bound around her ankle. What was this…?

Her attention was pulled from her strange attire by a noise to her right. Head turning to see what it was, Aki's heart jumped as she realized she wasn't alone. Two little girls clad in peculiar warden uniforms stared back at her. Despite Aki's own shocked expression, the girls didn't seem to have any reaction to this strange situation as they looked her over, both wearing a single eyepatch. After a moment, Aki's curiosity became stronger than her fear, leading her to slowly step forwards (noting that the chain on her manacle was awfully long), placing her hands on the bars of the door keeping her and the little girls apart. "H-Hello…?"

The duo offered no response to her apprehensive greeting, instead stepping to the side in sync to reveal that there was yet another person in this room. Well, 'person' might not be overly honest- the suited man sitting at the desk in the center of the circle of cells didn't exactly seem human. While having mostly normal features, his bulging eyes and enormous protruding nose were indications that this was no normal man. His cheshire smile combined with his frightening appearance and the eerie music echoing throughout what looked like a circle of jail cells only caused another chill to run down Aki's spine.

It was one of the girls who spoke up first, the meaner looking one. "So you've come to, Inmate."

The quieter girl spoke, her voice a lot smoother and relaxed than the first. "The you in reality is currently fast asleep. You are only experiencing this as a dream."

The mean girl cut back in. "You're in the presence of our master. Stand up straight!"

Master…? Aki's eyes drifted to the center of the room where the peculiar old man sat, cheshire smile remaining even as he opened his mouth to speak, a deep and booming voice causing Aki to shrink into herself a bit. "Welcome. I am delighted to make your acquaintance. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a room that only those who are bound by a "contract" may enter. I am Igor, the master of this place. Remember it well."

Aki felt a bead of frightened sweat fall down her forehead, and her breathing increased as she looked at the bars encasing her in the small cell. Igor seemed completely unbothered by her distress, continuing onwards. "I summoned you to speak of important matters. It involves your life as well."

The black-haired girl finally found her voice amidst the fear, her fright over the situation being funnelled into anger. How dare this _thing_ and these girls…! After everything she'd been through, she…! "Let me out!" Aki abruptly pulled on the bars, speaking in a much louder tone than she'd intended. The mean looking girl responded by slamming her baton against the cell, electricity sparking through the bars and leading Aki to jump back in shock- no pun intended.

"Know your place, Inmate! Who do you think you're talking to?!" The girl shouted, clearly the angrier out of the two nearly identical girls. Igor simply chuckled.

"Those sparks of rebellion… I was not incorrect in calling you here. Still, this is a surprise." He briefly looked around the room, expression never faltering. "The state of this room reflects the state of your own heart. To think a prison would appear as such. You truly are a prisoner of fate."

Tentatively, Aki approached the bars to hear the peculiar old man's words better, as what he said next caught her attention. "In the near future, there is no mistake that ruin awaits you."

Had she heard that right? Certainly, he didn't really mean… "Ruin?"

"I speak of the end to everything," Igor confirmed her fears. "However, there is a means to oppose such a fate. You must be 'rehabilitated'. Rehabilitated towards freedom… That is your only mean to avoid ruin. Do you have the resolve to challenge the distortion of the world?"

A question like that was nearly impossible to answer, especially taking into account the frightening situation and words she'd just been presented with. "... Wait, what?"

"You didn't decline, hm? Very well, that is enough." Igor seemed as if he had no real interest in answering her questions, and Aki was about to ask again until the little girls in front of her suddenly turned in sync to face her cell in a similar manner to the way they had when she'd woken up. "Ah, pardon me for not introducing the others. To your right is Caroline; to your left, Justine. They serve as wardens here."

Caroline spoke up first. "Hmph, try and struggle as hard as you like."

Justine followed. "The duty of wardens is to protect inmates. We are also your collaborators… that is, if you remain obedient."

Igor chimed back in, and the two girls spun to face him. "I shall explain the roles of these two at another occasion. Now then, it seems the night is waning… it is almost time. Take your time to slowly come to understand this place. We will surely meet again, eventually…" An alarm rang out abruptly, startling Aki away from the bars.

"Time's up," Caroline barked. "Now hurry up and go back to sleep."

Despite her lunge for the bars to ask something, _anything_ to the people (though that was still up for debate) in front of her, Aki's world had faded to black in a heartbeat.

* * *

Waking up the next morning, Aki puzzled over what she'd just seen as she lay in bed, still staring up at the ceiling. Ruin… Rehabilitation… What a mysterious dream. It's not like she was one to frequently recall what she'd seen in the sleeping hours anyways, especially not with this much detail. But she was pretty sure she'd read online somewhere that big lifestyle changes could affect your dreams considerably, so maybe that's all this was. It was far too crazy to be anything else, she figured as she went to prepare herself for the day. It was Sunday, Aki mused to herself as she started to pull her hair back into her familiar braids. Normally that meant a day off, but she recalled Sojiro saying he'd be taking her to meet the principal today, and that meant uniform. It's not like Aki really had that much in the way of casual clothes, so that was fine by her. Getting changed into her Shujin uniform, she debated over customizing it or not. She got away with that at her old school, after all, so why not throw on a different blouse or a fun pair of sneakers?

… But she was on probation, wasn't she? Sojiro's words from last night hit her again. _This isn't an all-expenses paid Tokyo vacation, country girl_. She needed to follow the rules carefully. Even if it turns out other students could push the rules with their uniform, it wouldn't be wise for Aki to attempt the same. In the end, the uniform remained unmodified, a pair of black nylons and similarly coloured loafers being the only pieces of her own, and even then they were well within most school regulations. Sliding her glasses on and making her way downstairs (it felt weird to wear shoes indoors and not simply slide them on as she actually left the house, but she'd have to get used to it now that she was living in a cafe), Aki closed her attic door and entered the public space of LeBlanc where Sojiro was waiting for her, a newspaper in hand as he leant on the counter. Was he ever dressed fashionably for an old guy. Did all Tokyo men wear things like fedoras and white jackets?

"Glad to see you're up. Didn't wanna have to shake you awake," he said, dropping the paper on the counter behind him. "The school you'll be attending is in the Aoyama district. Normally you'd take the train, but I don't feel like dealing with those line transfers right now. Anyways, I'll be driving you today." Straightening up with a grunt, Sojiro headed for the door with the implicit understanding that Aki would follow, mumbling under his breath. "Sheesh… Girls that young aren't usually allowed in my passenger seat."

Scrunching her nose at such a peculiar comment, Aki once again decided against saying anything, simply ducking her head and following him out.

The streets of Tokyo were seriously a different level than what she'd seen at home. The silence on the drive over between her and Sojiro might have been awkward had it not been for how Aki's focus on the streets outside was so intense. Before she'd even processed much of what she'd seen, the car had pulled up to Shujin. It wasn't as big as she'd expected an all-girls academy in Tokyo to be- maybe manga weren't as truthful as she'd first thought- but it really did seem nice enough as she approached the gates with her new guardian, who made sure to stop her before she tripped over a step.

"Careful. Now, do me a favour and behave yourself, all right? Don't get me wrong, I don't care what happens to you. Just don't cause me any trouble." Aki must have looked more dejected than Sojiro had expected over his harsh comments, and his tone softened slightly. "Come on, let's go meet your principal."

By the time they'd made it to the office, Aki was over the hurt, settling into a slightly colder demeanour. What did she expect, after all? The guy didn't need to care about her- she was just some criminal to him, and apparently she was the same to the principal with the way he stared at her so harshly. Half his words barely processed- Principal Kobayakawa, got it. That's all she really needed to remember. Even so, she did catch the end of his spiel. "To reiterate, just so we're clear, you will immediately be expelled if you cause any problems. Honestly, I hesitated on accepting someone like you, but there were some circumstances on our side. You might have done a variety of things in hiding in your hometown, but you will behave yourself here. Shujin Academy is a prep school dedicated to nurturing the next generation of young women, and we don't need a delinquent sullying them."

Aki's eyes dropped to the carpeted floor as she nodded, the principal still continuing. "If you are thrown from our school, there will be nowhere else for you to go. Keep that in mind." Turning to the woman beside him, the principal nodded his head. "This is the teacher in charge of your class."

The teacher, a tired looking woman with mussed black hair and an outfit that was a bit too frumpy for a younger person like her looked up just as Aki did- looks like they were both already done with today and everything it had to offer. "I'm Sadayo Kawakami. Here's your student ID." She spoke in a monotone voice, handing Aki the piece of plastic without any fanfare. "Be sure to read the school rules. If you cause any problems, I won't be able to protect you at all." Her gaze fell to the overweight man beside her. "... That IS your promise, yes, Principal Kobayakawa?"

The man nodded. "Correct. She is responsible for all her actions."

Crossing her arms, Kawakami's monotone voice broke into exhaustion for just a moment before she gathered herself. "But why me…? There should have been better candidates."

"It was a sudden transfer, and your class was the only one with an opening." The principal responded.

Sojiro cut in, Aki mentally thanking him for allowing her to escape the presentation of the 'How Aki Kurusu Is Personally Responsible For Every Bad Thing That's Ever Happened' show unfolding in front of her. She'd had enough of those back at home. "Mind if we get going? I got a store to get back to."

Nodding again, the principal shot a final look of disapproval at Aki before looking at Sojiro. "Sakura-san, please keep a close eye on her. Young women nowadays get up to so much more than they used to, and we cannot have anyone causing strife amongst our students. Don't let her cause any trouble outside."

Kawakami sighed, looking down again before directing her gaze to Aki. "Come to the faculty office when you arrive at school tomorrow. I'll show you to your classroom."

And with a few pleasantries, the meeting was over, Aki quietly following Sojiro into the halls. Once they were safely out of hearing range for the principal's office, the coffeeshop owner started to speak, rubbing the back of his head. "They're treating you like some sort of nuisance… Your past really does follow you wherever you go." Despite his sympathetic tone, he looked dead serious as he turned to face the glasses-wearing student. "I'm not going to watch your every move- you're sixteen, not six. But if you get expelled, I'm not going to hesitate in kicking you out. Got it."

"Got it." Aki replied, a dreary tone having settled over her voice. This really wasn't a good day at all, and the dream from last night felt as though it had somehow left her tired, contributing to her bad mood. Sojiro sighed, fishing through his pocket for his car keys.

"School never changes, hm? Guess you having a boyfriend won't be a concern here. Bet that's partially the reason the courts were happy about your transfer to an all-girls school. Anyways, we're going home." Once again, the man headed off without waiting for her, leaving Aki to catch up.

* * *

While Sojiro and Aki departed, Sadayo Kawakami was walking from one end of the building to the other, fully intent on gathering her things and heading home. Like her looks and attitude in the office had suggested, she was exhausted. But she was stopped midway through her journey by another teacher, a tall man in a white jersey. It seemed he knew exactly what was going on judging by his small smile and words. "What a troublesome situation."

Kawakami sighed, putting her hand on her hip. "I can't believe they pushed someone with a record on me. A male teacher would be better suited for dealing with someone like her."

"Why in the world was a girl like her admitted to such an upstanding school?" The man looked just as bothered by it as Kawakami. "I hope she won't be causing the other girls any trouble."

"Who knows?" Kawakami shrugged. "The principal made that decision. Apparently it's for the school's reputation."

"I would have thought my volleyball team has contributed more than enough to cover that. Be careful, okay?" The dark-haired man said with a grin. Kawakami returned the smile, although her eyes hinted that perhaps she wasn't as convinced as he was.

"That's certainly true. I'll be mindful, but I kind of hope that she just won't come to school. Still, that isn't something I should be saying as a teacher…" Humming to herself, the female teacher looked back over at the man, who was stretching his arms a bit.

"Well, I should be returning to practice. The tournament is coming up- having high expectations put on you by others is a problem in itself. We'll have to work hard to make up for the track team, too." His smile grew a bit, clearly passionate over the team and indicate that he wasn't quite as bothered by such a 'problem' as his words might suggest. Everything about him indicated that he was cocky- not like Kawakami needed any more confirmation on that. Working with the man had taught her enough about him.

With a few nods of goodbye, the male teacher walked off, leaving Kawakami alone under the awning. Sighing, the woman put her hand on her hip once again, inhaling deeply. "Why'd it have to be my class…?"

* * *

Traffic was stalled. Aki sat quietly in the front seat, doing her best not to irritate Sojiro any further- the man was clearly already pissed at the terrible driving conditions, and the last thing she wanted was to tick him off more and spend the journey back to LeBlanc stewing in the tense air. The coffeeshop owner had no such qualms about speaking, however. "Traffic's not moving at all!" He spoke with an irritated growl. "You're taking the train starting tomorrow."

Aki had expected as much anyways. It looked like the brief outburst had calmed Sojiro slightly, as he looked a bit more aware of the fact that there was someone else here to hear his road rage and did his best to calm his voice a bit. "... So how was it? The school, I mean. Think you can manage?"

"I guess we'll see." Aki replied, not taking her eyes off the bumper in front of her. Her foul mood since meeting Principal Kobayakawa and Kawakami hadn't yet dispersed, and she wasn't exactly in much of a chatty mood. Sojiro sighed, tapping his fingernails against the leather cover on the steering wheel.

"Listen up. Don't even think of doing anything stupid. You were expelled once already, and Shujin is strict. Nobody is going to give you any sympathy there." He paused, seemingly thinking about something. "It's not good for me as a business owner to have brought you in, so you're lucky. If you do anything that ends up hurting my restaurant's reputation, you're out on the street, got it?"

Aki nodded silently throughout the lecture, but… something was burning in her mind. It was a question she'd wanted to ask much earlier, but it wasn't exactly something she'd been in any position to ask. "Sakura-san, why did you take me in?"

"I was asked to do it, and I just… happened to agree with it." Sojiro grumbled. "I don't know why nobody thought to mention you were a girl. Guess there weren't any women around willing to take care of someone with a record. I've already been paid for this, so I guess you won't be switched."

The radio interrupted the conversation as it faded from inoffensive pop music into news spoken just a bit too loud. "Again, a subway has derailed at Shibuya Station, greatly affecting the timetime all across the-

Reaching out, Sojiro turned down the volume. "Another accident? Guess that's why the road's been so crowded. There's been a lot of those lately."

Had there been? Aki didn't know- she hadn't been in Tokyo long enough. There really wasn't much to say to that. Turning her head to the left, she let her mind drift off staring at the unmoving traffic.

* * *

Leaving her director's office, a certain grey haired woman made her way to the main stairwell of the SIU building. Sae Niijima may have been exhausted, but there were people she had to see and things she had to do. Missing work or taking a break wasn't an option right now, especially not after that massive subway accident. Besides, someone was waiting for her.

Sae turned the corner on the stairwell, catching the eye of a young girl. Brown hair cut in a fluffy bob, slightly shaggy bangs, and a high school uniform, the girl looked terribly out of place if you only took her appearance into consideration. As her head raised up from her cellphone, though, the polite smile and ever-inquisitive eyes that made their way over to Sae projected a calm, mature aura. Young as she may have looked with her black and white uniform bow and black knee socks, this girl had a place in this adult world. Gloved hands tucking her phone into her blazer pocket, the girl smiled up at Sae. "Did you call for me? Is it a case?"

"Not quite." Despite her response, Sae simply kept walking, not stopping by the girl as she passed her on the stairwell. "I want your opinion on something."

Unbothered by the woman continuing to move, the brown haired girl turned to follow her. "Sure. Your judgement is most often correct, though." As Sae paused before walking the last few steps, the brunette caught up to her, looking up at the much taller woman. "Can we discuss this over sushi, perhaps? You are making a student work late, after all."

… Her assistant really was still a high schooler, if her desires to both save money and acquire tasty food were anything to go off. Sae continued down the stairs, used to the mix of adult-like politeness and childlike whims that came from the girl. "Conveyor belt only." With a pout, the brunette gave up on her quest, holding her grey briefcase with both hands as she followed the older woman.

* * *

By the time traffic cleared up, allowing Aki and Sojiro access into Yongen-Jaya, it was the early evening. The older man sighed as he unlocked the cafe, the teenager dutifully following him in. She was ready to return to her temporary home as soon as possible after today.

"Damn, to think there'd be that much traffic… what a waste of time. I wasn't even able to open the cafe today." Sojiro stuck one hand in his pocket, looking the place over. For a moment, Aki felt as if she should apologize, but… it hadn't really been her fault. Truthfully, she was just tired of being made to feel guilty over things she wasn't responsible for after today's meeting. She simply remained quiet. The coffeehouse owner didn't seem like he really needed a response, and just kept talking. "Just head upstairs. There's something I need to give you."

Now that was something she could do. Turning and hurrying up the stairs (noting each creak and ache from the wood), Aki dropped her bag on the counter going across the railing. As she did, Sojiro followed her up, putting a small leatherbound journal of sorts on the same counter. "This is your probation diary. Make sure you write in it. I'm obligated to report in on you, and like I said before, you're sixteen. I'm not going to hold your hand and make sure you're behaving, so I want you to record your own daily activities."

As Aki stared down at the small journal, the beeping of a phone interrupted the conversation (?) she and her guardian were having. It wasn't her ringtone. Pulling his phone from his pocket, Sojiro held it to his ear. "Hey, what's up?"

If that casual greeting was anything to go by, he recognized whoever that number was. "... I'm about to leave. I'll be there in no time… Uh huh. See you soon." Hanging up, he turned back to Aki, going from the kinder tone he'd had on the phone to the gruff voice he took with her. "I'm off. I'll lock the place up, so do whatever you want for the rest of the night. Don't touch anything in the store. Make sure you get some sleep, you have school tomorrow."

Speaking as if he was prattling off a list (and maybe he actually was, given as those seemed to be simple rules and regulations), Sojiro took off with a small wave in Aki's direction. _Again, no goodnight…_ But it was a bit stupid to hope for one, anyways. The guy clearly didn't care about her past keeping her alive and out of trouble, and as Aki's bitterness reminded her, he was under absolutely no obligation to. She was some punk kid who showed up in his life with a criminal record in tow. Who'd care about someone like that?

… Even so, she needed to just be thankful that she had a school to go to and a roof over her head. Speaking of school, she really did need to get some sleep so she'd be ready for her first day- as ready as she could be, anyways. If the treatment she'd be getting was anything like today… Ugh. Aki pushed the thoughts out of her head, going to get changed into her pajamas. Changing and undoing her braids, she was about to slide her glasses off until she remembered that probation diary. Eh, it could wait. Not like she had anything to write in it. _Dear diary, today I learned I'm basically the devil because I didn't want to see some creep force himself on a woman_. Yeah, that wouldn't go too well. Taking off her glasses, she laid down on her bed, reaching for her phone from where she'd dropped it atop the box next to her bed. She needed to take the train tomorrow, so maybe it was worth looking at the transfer schedule.

Opening it up, she was about to go to her map before something caught her eye again- that damn app. She'd deleted it, hadn't she? Twice, actually! And yet it had returned to haunt her home screen again. _Third time's the charm_ , she thought as she deleted it once again. And of course, a quick scan of the screen showed that nobody had texted her. Great. Her parents definitely hadn't forgiven her for the way she'd 'sullied the family name' with her new record, and Aki was getting the silent treatment as punishment. Forget the map, she was just ready to go to bed and pretend today never happened.

Dropping her phone on the box again, Aki pulled up the blankets, closing her eyes and allowing the still-unfamiliar noises of the city to lull her to sleep.

* * *

There were no visits from the long-nosed man and the weird girls in her dreams, Aki mused in the middle of getting changed. Logically, it made sense- after all, not all dreams are reoccurring, and she wasn't once to get them, anyways. But it was so strange that a part of her had almost expected it to come again. But she was awfully glad it hadn't, given how she'd felt improperly rested the morning after. And, she thought as she braided her hair, she'd need all the energy she had to survive today. Packing everything up, she slipped on her shoes (still weird) and left her room, bag slung over her shoulder. The cafe was open, judging by the way Sojiro was standing at the counter. Bowing politely and mumbling her morning greetings, she was prepared to leave promptly until he called her name.

"Hey, Kurusu. Come here, I'll feed you." He motioned at what seemed to be a plate of curry in front of him- Aki hadn't noticed at first. "Make sure you finish it before the customers start coming in."

"... Breakfast curry?" Aki couldn't stop herself from asking the obvious. It looked and smelt delicious, but still- breakfast curry! Curry! For breakfast! A breakfast of curry! Five hops this time.

"What? Just eat it." Sojiro cocked an eyebrow at her. It wasn't like she'd be getting any other breakfast, and both of them knew it. Pausing, Aki thanked him quietly before sitting down and starting to eat. Any food served at a restaurant had to be at least somewhat tasty, she knew that, but this…! This was delicious! Spicy and flavourful, Aki zoned out completely as she chowed down. On top of everything, it was a sizeable portion. Was this a portal to the Curry Dimension? She hadn't even realized she'd finished until she noticed Sojiro taking her empty plate away. "Alright, time for you to get going. Don't want to be late on your first day."

Maybe she had been feeling crappy yesterday, but any animosity towards Sojiro had gone out the window with that meal. "Thank you! It was delicious!" Perhaps Aki sounded a bit too perky, but the happiness of having an actual breakfast plus the pleasant surprise that came from Sojiro doing something nice for her had improved her mood drastically. Maybe he felt bad for her after yesterday? His intentions didn't really matter, she supposed. Point is, she was doing a lot better than she was yesterday, and that was good no matter what.

"Thanks. Hurry over to school, and don't get lost." Sojiro didn't seem overly affected by her newfound perkiness, moving to drop the dishes in the sink. Nodding again in thanks, Aki turned, prepared to head out to the station.

The perkiness had been absolutely demolished on that trip. First she'd gotten lost leaving Yongen, and had to ask for directions again and again. Then she'd nearly missed her train, getting packed into the tiny car like a sardine. At least last time she'd had a seat, but now she was standing right in the thick of it. Being a bit taller than most of her female peers at five foot four, Aki was nonetheless very small amidst all the adult businessmen in the same car as her. The whole trip had felt suffocating. Then there was the detour to get to the Ginza line, again leading her to almost miss the train and receive the sequel nobody asked for, Tokyo Transit Sucks Two: Electric Boogaloo, as she was jostled into the crowded car. And to top it all off, as she finally got off the train, it had started to rain. And she didn't have an umbrella.

As she made it outside of the station, Aki was quick to hurry under the nearest awning to regain her composure and figure out a way to get to school without getting too wet. Pulling out her phone to check the time and see if it was worth just booking it to school to make it, something caught her eye. That damn app was back. Before Aki could slide to delete it, though, it only grew bigger until it was suddenly taking up almost the entire screen. What kind of virus had she fallen upon? Aki stared in frustrated befuddlement down at the screen until someone else who'd apparently also forgotten an umbrella hurried under the awning next to her. A quick scan of the girl beside her showed that, despite her bright red tights and non-uniform hoodie, she was definitely a Shujin student. The girl pulled down her hood, revealing puffy blonde pigtails that fell down around her shoulders and one of the prettiest faces Aki had ever seen. Big blue eyes and perfect skin… this girl looked like she could be a model. And was she fully Japanese? She didn't quite look the part.

Aki hadn't even realized she'd been staring for so long until the girl turned to look at her. The black haired girl jolted slightly as she realized what she'd been doing, but the blonde just gave a polite smile, clearly pretty used to stares, before turning back to face the street. Aki froze for a moment, trying to muster up an apology before a car pulling up in front of them distracted both girls. The window rolled down, revealing a man in a blue tracksuit driving it. Leaning out, he smiled at the blonde girl. "Good morning! Want me to give you a ride to school? You're gonna be late."

Though she couldn't place it, Aki was hit with the feeling that this guy was… gross. He hadn't done anything yet, no, but there was some sort of wave that hit her that told her this was not the type of guy a girl should ever get in a car with. Despite that, the blonde seemed to find this normal. "Ah, sure. Thank you." Leaving the awning, she hurried over to the car, opening the door and sitting down in the passenger seat. What was she doing?! She… She knew that guy, right? It was basic knowledge not to get in a car with strangers, and people in Tokyo had to know that doubly so. Yes, she had to know him. The man looked out the window again, making eye contact with Aki. "You need a lift too?" Moderately startled by him acknowledging that she existed, Aki quickly shook her head, smiling awkwardly. Even if that blonde knew the man, she definitely didn't. Still, for people who knew each other… the girl didn't look too happy as the window rolled up and the car pulled away, splashing water onto the sidewalk.

Speaking of which, the sound of someone splashing through puddles violently suddenly entered Aki's ears. The source of the noise made itself pretty clear right away- another girl was running after the car, though she stopped right in front of Aki's awning, frustratedly stomping her foot as she realized she'd never catch it. This girl was another Shujin student, although she wore some sort of graphic print shirt under her jacket in lieu of the turtleneck. Who knew uniform was so lax? She was wearing the skirt, but the suspenders were hanging loosely off to the sides, framing toned legs and white calf-high socks with a red around the top. Her white canvas shoes looked absolutely drenched, and they were only getting wetter as she stomped one last time in the puddle. "Screw that pervy teacher!"

Despite this girl giving off the air of a total delinquent, Aki's curiosity won out over the desire to just ignore this girl. "... Pervy teacher?" With her own statement, something was taking place on her phone, but she didn't see it. The girl turned around, looking her over in confusion. Like the one who'd just gotten into the car, this girl was a blonde. Unlike the first, though, her hair was pretty obviously bleached. Aside from how her chin length hair looked just a little too abused by bleach, the messy nature of the cut suggested she hadn't exactly brought the best product for it. Despite it mostly being left down, a small section of hair was pulled up on the left side of the girl's head, the small, puffy ponytail being topped off with a black scrunchie. The girl moved naturally into a hunched stance as she took a few steps towards Aki, and the black haired student got a few glimpses at what looked like a cartilage piercing in one ear amidst the hair. Brown eyes stared her down, sizing her up before she finally spoke.

"... What do you want?"

* * *

 _Yay, it's here! I'm so excited to really get into the meat of this story! Now we've officially met Ann and Ryuji, as well as had a glimpse at a certain Detective Princess…? Anyways! Notes!_

 _\- I based Ryuji's look partially on his original appearance, but I tried to take into account how being a girl changes the style game. He's not really the type to have ever struck me as being into fashion or makeup, so I didn't go the full gyaru route, but given how his style is meant to come off as rebellious and 'bad', I did add a couple hints of kogyaru fashion- namely the little ponytail and cartilage piercing. I tried to keep it faithful to his original design while also ensuring our female Ryuji is a bit different from her male counterpart when you consider how gender changes these things (especially with the way I elected to change her story here)._

 _\- Akechi, on the other hand, has the image of a smart, morally upstanding, handsome guy. So I just made him into a smart, morally upstanding, pretty girl. The fact that he doesn't modify his uniform helped so much when I was figuring out what he should look like, haha._

 _\- The Velvet Room scenes stay… pretty identical to the game. I can't write Igor or the twins better than Atlus, and the character's gender changes nothing about what happens in there, so the dialogue is essentially identical. You can probably skip all Velvet Room scenes I write if you want tbh, they're essentially novelizations of what happens in game. I just need to keep them because the Velvet Room is such a vital part in the protagonist's journey, so I wrote them in anyways_

 _\- Canon Akira is 5'9, making him about two inches taller than the average Japanese male teen. So I decided to make Aki 5'4, ensuring she's two inches taller than the average Japanese female teen. Add 'average height of Japanese teenage girl' to the list of random things I end up researching while writing._

 _And that's about all I have to say! Expect things to start deviating from the canon story more than usual starting next chapter. Don't worry, it'll basically progress exactly the same, just with some big altered details- after all, now that Kamoshida is here, the genders of the characters are gonna have some large impact on what happens. Please leave a review if you liked it, have any critique, or want to tell me that you'd wish I'd never been born! (I wish the same thing, the last reviewer isn't special) See you guys soon!_


	3. CH3: The Beginning of It All

Hi everyone! Here's the next update, right on schedule. I don't really have any special notes to make, but I do want to let everyone know that I went back and fixed the formatting of last chapter. Not sure how it got a bit screwy when I brought it over here- seriously, transferring a document from AO3 to FF is like pulling teeth. Anyways, that should be solved, and please leave a review if you like what you read here!

* * *

The blonde girl glared at Aki, crossing her arms across that obnoxious print t-shirt. Maybe Shujin's uniform rules weren't actually that lax- there was a distinct chance that this girl just didn't give a shit. With Aki's lack of response, mostly born from how she just had no idea _what_ to say in this situation, the other girl continued talking. "You gonna rat me out to Kamoshida?"

"... Kamoshida?" Was that someone she was supposed to know? Wasn't that their principal? Wait, no, he was Kobayakawa. Aki's genuine confusion seemed to catch the punk-ish girl off guard, and she tilted her head for a moment in confusion.

"Huh? Did you not see or something? In that car just now, it was Kamoshida." The girl grimaced, sticking her hands in her pockets and looking to the side, examining the cars passing by with very little interest. "He does whatever the fuck he wants! Who does he think he is- the king of a castle? Don't you agree?"

"King of a castle…? Wait, I'm confused." Aki shook her head. "I'm sorry, I really don't know what you're talking about."

"No, I mean…" The blonde furrowed her thin, black eyebrows. "Wait. You don't know Kamoshida? Are you for real?" Pausing to look Aki over, the girl looked back at her face with an incredulous expression. "You're from Shujin, right? You're wearing a Shujin uniform."

"I think? I just transferred in today, so…" Aki shrugged, unsure of how to proceed in such an unusual conversation.

"Oh, a transfer student. No wonder you don't know him." The blonde's face turned from confusion to understanding, and then to bitterness. "You're damn lucky you don't." Pausing to look around, the girl only seemed to notice now that she'd been talking to a stranger. "Oh, right- the name's Ryuko Sakamoto. Probably shoulda' started with that, right?"

Aki smiled a bit, reaching up to adjust her glasses. "Maybe. Still, with the way the conversation started, I can see why we'd miss names. I'm Aki Kurusu."

"Yeah, it's a weird way to start talking, ain't it? Nice t'meetcha. Anyways, the rain ain't too bad now. We'll be late if we don't hurry. You coming?"

As Ryuko turned to leave, Aki motioned to follow her- until a sharp pain suddenly blared from her skull. It felt like a wave of water had broke over her head, knocking everything back and hitting her with a powerful ache. It passed in just a second, but she still felt light-headed. Looking up, she found her new acquaintance holding her head as well, rubbing her forehead. "Ugh, my head hurts…" Removing her hand, she sighed, stuffing her hands in her blazer pocket. "I wanna go home, dammit."

Even so, both girls moved forwards, beginning their quiet trudge to school.

* * *

Aki sat in the interrogation room, rubbing her head like she'd done so many months ago on that first day. Sae spoke up, drawing her attention away from her headache. "There was a terrible subway accident that day. I assume you know of the uproar that the public calls the 'psychotic breakdown incidents'."

Even now, Aki found it in her to muster up a bit of sass. "I might."

The prosecutor was having absolutely none of it, staring her down coldly. "You say that like it's none of your business. It was all over the news, and one of the victims included a teacher at your high school. You've absolutely heard about it, and now is not the time for jokes."

Leaning in a bit, Sae looked Aki in the eye. "On that day, were you still an ordinary student?" Met only with silence, she leaned back. "... Let me change the question. You transferred to Shujin Academy- an ordinary girl's high school. You could find one like it in any city… Or at least that's what it should have been. What happened around that time? Tell me everything- truthfully."

* * *

While the unlikely duo journeyed onwards to school, something strange was happening on Aki's phone. She couldn't see it, having stuffed it in her pocket beforehand. She was simply following Ryuko as she was lead through an alleyway, but the icon was expanding, growing large and starting to emit a reddish light. She had no way of seeing it- and on top of that, she had other concerns aside from a peculiar phone app. Such as trying to focus on not getting her shoes soaked as she dodged the puddles spread around the alley. Ryuko seemed to have no such qualms, marching right through like it was her job. Aki was inclined to smile at the girl's lack of concern about the fate of her sneakers, but as the blonde's foot left one puddle, the glasses-clad girl couldn't help but pause in confusion. The water splashed up from the impact of Ryuko's shoe stayed in the air for just a moment too long, taking on a nearly rosy sheen. It was enough to make Aki stop walking even as Ryuko blindly marched forwards and around a bend, oblivious to the peculiar properties of the water.

Staring at the puddle suspiciously as it did... absolutely nothing else of note, Aki was prepared to chalk it up to her seeing things until a shocked shout of surprise came from up ahead. Head moving back up in a panic, Aki quickly darted forwards and around to see what the cause had been- and froze in her tracks, just as Ryuko did beside her. The architecture of the city had come to a sudden halt, and what stood in front of them instead was a massive castle. High brick walls, spiralling turrets, ominous yellow light coming from carved out windows… it was something out of an especially gloomy fairy tale. On top of that, the sky above the castle was a deep purple, mixing in with the similarly coloured fog that circled the higher points of the magnificent building. Aki was no expert of the area yet, but if she remembered properly from yesterday, this was supposed to be the location of her school. What in god's name had _happened_?

Ryuko was every bit as shocked as she was. "We didn't come the wrong way, though… this should be it." The blonde paused to check behind her before turning back, examining the sign outside that declared this place to be Shujin Academy. "The hell's going on here?"

"I… This can't be the school, can it?" Aki found her words after fumbling on them for a moment, turning to face the other student.

"I guess we just gotta go in and ask." Though the other girl still seemed baffled, she was also determined to find out what exactly had transpired here. Ryuko started to walk forwards towards the massive castle, and without any sort of idea as to what she was supposed to do in this situation, Aki followed just behind her.

* * *

The grand hall was just as elaborate- and creepy- as the exterior had been. Though checkered floors, gilded chandeliers and high walls suggested a magnificent palace, the grim air from outside the castle seemed to have followed the girls in, ensuring that Aki couldn't get too comfortable. Ryuko seemed to be more proactive than she was, wandering around a bit and checking behind various objects. Even so, her voice couldn't hide a creeping unease. "Th-That's really weird… where's the school…?"

"Did we make a wrong turn?" Aki suggested, eyes running up and down the pillars that stretched to the ceiling.

"No, this has to be it. I walk that route every day." Ryuko turned to look at the glasses clad girl. "I mean… it should be…" No matter how confident she was that they hadn't somehow gotten lost, this clearly wasn't adding up for her either. She pulled out her phone, frowning at something on the screen. "'Out of service'? Where the hell did we end up? That sign out there was for the school, right?"

"I think so… what's going on here?"

"I dunno! I _wanna_ know!" Frustration was ebbing into the blonde's voice, a sneaker-clad foot stomping onto the red carpet spread over the checkered floor. But the sound that emerged as Ryuko's foot hit the floor was clanging, metallic- whatever the source of that noise was, it clearly wasn't her. Both girls turned as the source made itself clear- someone in grey knight's armour wielding an enormous, nearly comically oversized sword and shield had entered from a side hall, approaching them both. Their face was hidden behind a blue mask, emotion unreadable as they halted in front of the duo. Ryuko exhaled suddenly, calming down a bit. "Geez, you freaked me out… Who're you? You a student?"

"That can't be a student," Aki took a small, cautionary step back as Ryuko walked forwards, investigating the new arrival more thoroughly. "Sakamoto-san…"

Just as she finished speaking, a second knight appeared, this one matching the first down to the last detail- including their large swords, something both girls were only really processing as a danger now as their nerves spiked. Ryuko moved back slightly, sounding just as agitated as she did before as she cast her gaze upon the second person (?). "H-Hey, what's goin' on?"

"What is this…?" Aki felt goosebumps growing under the uniform. This couldn't actually be the school, could it?

The first knight took a step closer to Ryuko, the blonde girl instinctively entering a defensive stance. Even as she did, Aki could see her chest rising and falling much faster than it had been before- she was afraid too. "... This shit's real. We gotta run!"

An idea Aki could certainly get behind. "Got it." Both girls turned back to the entrance, running for the doors… Only to find that two more knights blocked the way. Stopping in their tracks, Ryuko let out a hiss of anxiety as she looked back to their original assailants. "What's with these guys?!"

Aki realized with a chill that they were boxed in- a realization that came far too late as one of the knights stepped forwards, smacking Ryuko in the back with their shield. The girl cried out in pain, falling down to her knees. "Gah! The hell do you think you're-"

There was a burst of pain on the back of Aki's head- the last thing she remembered before everything went black around her.

* * *

 _Hey…_

 _Hey! Wake up!_

Eyes flickering open, Aki's first thought as she awakened was that the voice was awfully demanding. Her second thought was that her head hurt- something that certainly wasn't helped as she realized she was lying back on a hard wooden slab of sorts. Groaning and opening her eyes, she saw Ryuko looking over her, giving her a concerned stare and waving a hand over her face. "You all right? How many fingers am I holding up?"

No, she most definitely wasn't, but she was far too groggy to get snappy. She simply opted to reach up and gently push Ryuko's hand away. "I'm okay… are you?" Aki quickly added on the question as she recalled what had happened to land her in this… medieval prison cell? That's what it looked like, with iron bars and shackles hanging from the walls. What was with her and waking up in spooky jail cells lately…? Aki was starting to see a pattern here, and she didn't care for it one bit.

"Yeah, more or less. Looks like this ain't no dream…" Ryuko turned to look at the cell door, frowning before hurrying towards it, banging on the bars and shouting. "What the hell's going on?! Let us out of here, we know someone's out there!"

Calling for help seemed like it wasn't working, as nobody was arriving no matter how much of a fit the blonde girl made. Instead, they were greeted with what sounded like a distant scream of pain- a female voice, somewhat muffled and far off, was shrieking out. Ryuko froze, Aki taking a few unsteady steps as she rose from the wooden bed to go join the other girl at the bars. Nobody was out there, even as Aki strained her neck to look in the direction of the noise. Ryuko, meanwhile, had started backing up. "Woah… Woah, woah, woah…"

Aki was confused by that reaction until she turned to look at her companion- an action that was halted midway as she realized what had stunned the other girl so much. A small group of the knights from before were approaching the door- and this time, they were speaking. The voice from the first knight was that of a normal man, albeit layered just enough times to create a distorted echo. "Be glad that your punishment has been decided upon. Your charge is 'unlawful entry'. Thus, you will be sentenced to death."

"What?!" Ryuko exclaimed, hands balling into fists as she stared, flabbergasted, at the blue-masked knight in front of her.

"No one's allowed to do as they please in my castle." In that moment, both girls realized the voice wasn't ever coming from the knight. Stepping to the side, the armoured person revealed the true source of the voice- an ordinary man, donned in a red heart patterned cape and golden crown atop a mess of black hair. He was an entirely normal individual, making the knight beside him look especially peculiar. One thing stood out, though- his glowing yellow eyes, just as unnatural as everything else around the two girls. Ryuko rushed back to the bars, grabbing at them and staring ahead in shock.

"Wait… Is that you, Kamoshida?"

Kamoshida… Aki's eyes widened as remembered. Ryuko had said that guy in the car was Kamoshida, hadn't she? And aside from the glowing yellow eyes and bizarre outfit (was that a pink speedo under the cape?!)… This guy looked just like the man who'd ushered that pretty girl into his passenger seat. Kamoshida kept talking in that strange, layered tone. "I thought it was some petty thief, but to think it'd be you, Sakamoto… Are you trying to disobey me again? It looks like you haven't learned your lesson at all, huh? Or did you finally realize I was right back then and come to accept my offer?" Turning his head, the man focused his golden gaze at Aki. The way he stared her down wasn't particularly strange, but something about the way his eyes sized her up made Aki's skin crawl. "And you brought a friend this time, hm?"

Ryuko shook at the bars in anger, leaning forward to snarl at the man. "Leave her the hell alone! This ain't funny, you asshole!"

"Is that how you speak to a king?" Kamoshida's head swivelled back to Ryuko, glaring at her. "It seems you don't understand the position you're in at all. Not only did you sneak into my castle, you committed the crime of insulting me- the king. The punishment for that is death. It's time for an execution!"

Before either girl had time to react, one of the knights was pushing at the door. With only enough time to move back, Aki found herself pressed up against the rightmost wall as the three knights flooded into the small cell, trapping Ryuko in the left corner of the room while Kamoshida stood in the doorway. The blonde girl's expression reminded Aki of some sort of trapped animal. "... Goddammit…!" But even if her expression indicated fear, there was a fire in her eyes that spread to the rest of her face. A trapped animal, yes, but less of a trapped rabbit and more of a trapped wolf. Darting forwards, Ryuko braced her arms in front of her and ran straight into the closest knight's shield, sending them flying back into the floor. That muscle in her legs definitely wasn't just for show if she could gather enough momentum over such a short area to knock something that huge down. Turning back to Aki, that fiery expression remained. "Come on, we're outta here! We gotta-"

One of the remaining two knights used their shield to shove the blonde backwards, interrupting her and causing her to cry out in pain as she fell to her knees, one hand on her chest where the impact had hit hardest. The knocked down knight got up, armour clanging loudly, and Aki darted forwards to pull them back, but it was like nothing as she grabbed at their waist- they didn't even react to her. Ryuko looked up at Aki's desperate attempt to help, watching her struggle endlessly. "Just go! Dude, get outta here…! These guys are serious!"

Kamoshida took a step into the cell, staring Aki down with a devilish grin. "Thinking of running away, are we? What a heartless friend you are."

"She's not a friend. Hurry up, you have to go!" Ryuko shouted, desperately trying to get Aki to run. Even so, the black haired girl kept struggling to pull the knight back. She couldn't just leave the first person to show her some kindness since arriving here to these… these _things_! Kamoshida, however, seemed to interpret her refusal to leave differently.

"What's the matter? Too scared to run away? You're not worth my time. I'll focus on this one's execution." Kamoshida turned to face Ryuko. On cue, the two other guards lifted the shouting girl up by her arms, holding her upright as the crowned man approached her. Even from this angle, Aki could see the way his eyes ran down the blonde girl's body, dread rising in her chest. But Ryuko didn't seem frightened so much as she seemed absolutely _enraged_ , glaring at Kamoshida with teeth bared.

"Don't get any closer, you creep!" She all but hissed at him, anger seething in her voice. Kamoshida ignored her entirely, approaching and reaching out to cup her face in a horribly out of place act of intimacy, smiling cruelly down at her. Ryuko swore loudly, viciously struggling against both knights holding her up. Despite her best efforts, she was held still as the man withdrew his hand- only to bring it back to punch her across the face. Aki gasped as Ryuko yelped, and she attempted to sidestep the knight she was currently fighting helplessly against to run in and aid the blonde, but was quickly stopped as it turned along with her, extending a sword in her direction. That point looked deadly sharp… Aki gulped in fear, backing up until her back hit the hard brick wall. All she could do was watch as Kamoshida laid into the other girl, hitting her multiple times.

"Lowly scum!" The man laughed as his fist impacted with the other side of Ryuko's jaw, the girl still fighting against the guard's grasps with everything she had. "You really thought you could get away with rejecting me back then? Hah! Useless pest!" With another punch, the knights released Ryuko's arms, the blonde girl falling to her stomach and emitting a pained groan. Staring down at her like she was trash, Kamoshida spit on the girl. One of the knights reached down for the battered girl again, causing Aki to shout out to her in a panic

"G-Get up! Sakamoto-san, you have to get up!" Her desperate plea for the other girl to stand was silenced as the knight pointing a sword in her direction stepped closer in warning. It was like Ryuko didn't even hear her, only groaning in pain again as she was lifted and unceremoniously tossed to the other side of the room. How strong were these things?! They'd thrown her like she was a ragdoll…! And here Kamoshida was, with what looked like complete control over them. Aki watched in horror as the man approached the blonde. Even as the knight threatening her turned the other way to face the awful scene, the black haired girl was frozen in place as she watched Ryuko slowly writhe on the floor, her energy spent.

"Hmph, where'd your energy from before go?" Kamoshida taunted the wounded student. " I'll just have you killed right now and play with your friend afterwards."

Friend… Shit, he meant _her_. Aki was brought back into reality as she realized what that spelt for her, shouting out before she could stop herself. "Have you lost your mind?!"

"Hm?" Kamoshida turned to look at her, that yellow gaze making her queasy once again. As he started approaching her, Aki tried to back up until realizing she was already up against the wall. With nowhere to go, she only stood still as the man approached her, leaning over the glasses-wearing girl tauntingly. "What a rude slave… That look in your eyes irritates me!" Raising his leg, he kicked the girl in the stomach. He was _strong_ , the pain radiating into Aki's sides and chest from the impact. Yelping, she slid back against the wall, hitting the hard floor and gasping for air as she felt the pain run through her. Even so, something… strange was burning in her heart. This creep… How _dare_ he?! Pushing back the pain, she glared up at him, trying to emulate the rage Ryuko had shown before. Kamoshida seemed entirely unaffected, turning back to the blonde student and giving an order to his guards. "Hold her there. I changed my mind. If she's too foolish to accept my affections, she'll die right after this peasant."

The fire grew stronger. Leaping to her feet with a shout, Aki attempted to run after Kamoshida, only to be stopped by two guards grabbing her by the shoulders and pushing her hard against the wall. Struggling, her eyes fell to where Ryuko lay battered on the ground. Kamoshida was approaching her, the blonde girl looking on in fear. "No, I-I don't want to die…!" Despite all her previous outrage, the vicious trapped animal had begun to realize that the hunter looming over it wasn't going to be scared off. Listening to her pleas, so different from her previous shouts and threats, something in Aki's mind changed, a small shift with an astronomical impact. A strange, girlish voice echoed through her subconscious.

 _This is truly an unjust game… your chances of winning are almost none. But if my voice is reaching you, there may yet be a possibility open to you…_

The young female voice was replaced just as suddenly as it had arrived. This time, a booming male voice echoed throughout her head, demanding respect and brimming with confidence.

 _What's the matter? Are you simply going to watch? Are you forsaking her to save yourself? Death awaits her if you do nothing. Was your previous decision a mistake then?_

That night at home… that forceful man… that woman begging for help… Was it all just in vain if she was going to sit here and let another girl be hurt by a power-hungry piece of shit? "It _wasn't!_ " Aki whispered to herself as she watched one of the guards lift Ryuko up against the wall, holding the injured girl by the neck and pointing at sword at her. Breaking into a struggling fit, Aki pushed with all her night against the grip of both knights as the strange voice continued.

 _Very well… I have heeded your resolve._

Abruptly, a searing pain shot through Aki's skull. It was like nothing she'd ever felt before, as if someone was driving a flaming rod through one temple and attempting to twist it out the other side. She shrieked, completely pulled away from the scene in front of her by this painful intrusion. As she contained to wail, the voice continued, unbothered by her agonized cries and thrashes. No matter how loud her own voice howled out, this one was clear as day.

 _ **Vow to me**. I am thou, thou art I… Thou who art willing to perform all sacrilegious acts for thine own justice! Call upon my name, and release thy rage! _

Aki threw her head back against the wall, screaming so loudly she felt as though her lungs were burning just as badly her head did. It felt like something was pounding inside of her skull, trying to tear itself out of her through flesh and bone, and yet the voice remained clear to her even now.

 _Show the strength of thy will to ascertain all on thine own, though thou be chained to Hell itself!_

And just like that…it was gone. Her fear, agony, all of it gone and replaced with an unbreakable resolve. Bringing her head down, Aki's eyes focused in on Kamoshida, who was pointing towards Ryuko just like the knight pointed his sword. "That's _enough!_ " All previous fear and apprehension were replaced with a powerful anger, a voice she'd always seen as being small and unobtrusive booming through the cell. It was enough to catch Kamoshida's attention, the man turning to stare at her incredulously. Behind him, the knight dropped Ryuko to the floor, the girl struggling to catch her breath.

"What was that…?" The king demanded, taking a step towards the black haired girl. "You desire to be killed that much…? Fine!" Nodding his head to the guard to Aki's left, the girl was blindsided as she was hit with the front of its shield. She suddenly understood why it had floored Ryuko- it was like getting rammed by a truck. By some miracle, most likely this newfound strength, she remained standing, even though she was forced to stumble to avoid falling. Her glasses, however, weren't so lucky. Falling to the stone floor, the black rimmed spectacles shattered upon impact. Even if she hadn't been knocked down, Aki was momentarily stunned- enough time for the guards to either side of her to thrust out their swords in an 'X' shape in front of her, forcing the girl against the wall. The guard who'd previously been set to kill Ryuko marched to where Aki stood, the black haired student standing still, eyes closed and head tilted down at the floor. Staring her down with empty masked eyes, there was a moment of calm before it raised its sword and-

Aki's eyes shot open.

An enormous burst of wind erupted from where the girl stood, the sudden gale throwing the guard to the floor. The other two kept their balance, and though Kamoshida had to cover his face, he too stayed upright, seemingly confused at what had just happened. Aki's head remained tilted at the floor as all eyes in the cell were locked on her. After a moment, the girl raised her head. There was a peculiar pressure against her face- not painful, but very unfamiliar. Unsteady hands moved upwards to feel around, making out the shape of… some sort of mask? An urge washed over her abruptly- she needed the mask off. Gripping the top, she began to pull.

Pain. As soon as she started tugging, there was pain. Aki couldn't help but emit several small whimpers as she pulled down at the mask. Each second that passed only increased the hurt, but that urge was stronger than ever- she couldn't stop now, she needed it _off of her_. Even as whimpers grew into cries, even as it felt like the flesh was being torn from her face in an agonizing manner, even as she smelt the copper scent of blood oozing from above her nose, her resolve didn't falter. With a final pull, Aki tore the mask off, screaming like some sort of unhinged creature as she threw her head back against the bricks and then whipping it down to face the floor, a wave of blood spurting out from her upper face and dripping down her cheeks. One moment of stillness passed, the only noise being that of the red liquid dripping onto the floor until Aki slowly raised her head.

Her eyes gleamed bright gold.

Blue flames engulfed the girl as a menacing chuckle, certainly not one belonging to her, echoed throughout the cell. Flickering down her torso and over her limbs, the inferno swallowed her up until all that remained was a vaguely human silhouette. Orange flames appeared where her head had been moments before, morphing into harshly angled slits and a Cheshire smile before floating upwards to reveal the girl once again, this time with a menacing grin of her own. Flickering to the ceiling, the flames kept their shape, chains whipping in indiscernible directions around both Aki and the new, monstrous figure emerging from behind her. An enormous humanoid creature, easily eight feet tall, floated behind her. Razor sharp heels connected to red, nearly mechanical legs supported an elongated torso covered by a modified black waistcoat laced in red. A puffed white crevât and high necked red blazer cradled the thing's neck, atop of which stood that same menacing smile of flame, this time etched permanently into a mask which flared out like horns of a beast. Topped with a long, thin top hat, the figure's crowning glory were its wings. The oversized wingspan flared out, black feathers rustling in the gusts of air that still flowed amongst the cell. It stood in a nearly mocking position, one clawed red and black hand in front of its mouth. In front of it stood Aki.

Just as the flames had transformed, so had Aki. Gone was the tidy, proper young lady in braids and glasses. Her hair flowed wildly over her shoulders, waves and curls bouncing wildly in the gusts of wind. A high necked grey button-up donned her torso, fitted to accentuate and decorated with golden buttons. Her school skirt had been replaced with a pleated black one, coming from her waist down to her upper thighs. Two gleaming gold buttons sat at the waistband, matching those on her shirt. Black tights, completely opaque unlike the nylons of her uniform, covered her legs down to a pair of red velvet ankle boots. Much like the wings were the focal point of the beast behind her, though, the long black trench-coat that donned the girl's body was what tied everything together. Popped black collar and long black coattails that billowed behind her, Aki had transformed into a dashing, Victorian rogue.

The sudden change had stunned everybody around her, and as Aki threw her arms out to the sides dramatically, the floating chains and creature behind her moved in sync. With a billowing of its massive wings, another gust of wind emerged that blew back all three of the guards like they were paper. Kamoshida, who had moved back against the wall in fear, whimpered pathetically and scuttered away from the fearsome creature and girl who commanded it. Ryuko stared in awe from where she sat on the floor, brown eyes conveying total disbelief at the scene taking place in front of her as blue light radiated the room. Returning to its original cocky pose, the monster started to speak, showing itself to be the owner of that confident male voice from before. " _I am the pillager of twilight- Arsene!"_

Ryuko continued looking on, jaw dropping despite the pain she had moving it. Finally, she found her voice, mumbling in disbelief as Aki looked herself over, investigating her cuffed sleeves and bright red gloves. "What the…?"

'Arsene' spoke upon again, the voice coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It vibrated across the small cell. " _I am the rebel's soul that resides within you. If you so desire, I shall consider granting you the power to break through this crisis."_

Turning her head to look at the massive creature, Aki showed no fear- it somehow felt as if it was a part of her, a natural piece of her existence. Why be afraid? "Give me your power."

" _Hmph, very well…"_ Arsene's amused response was quickly followed by another voice- Kamoshida's, the caped man now standing at the entrance to the cell. His face bore a mixture of confusion, fear, and anger at this new arrival.

"Who the hell are you?! Guards!" Directing his gaze at the two remaining knights who hadn't been broken into metallic pieces from that earlier gust, Kamoshida barked out orders as the masked beings kept to their feet. "Start by killing that one! You'll learn the true strength of my men!"

The knights twisted, melting into pools of black and red before re-emerging, this time as peculiar beasts in their own right. Instead of armoured guards, a pair of floating pumpkins stared Aki down, glowing orange eyes matching their lanterns as their dark capes swayed with their rocking movements. Arsene seemed entirely unconcerned by their arrival, speaking just as passionately and confidently as before. " _Detest the enemies before you! Change that animosity into power… and unleash it!"_

Facing both beasts down, Aki felt a familiar gentle pressure on her face- her mask. Her instinct guided the way as she pulled it off (thankfully with no pain this time, and only the briefest splash of red appeared before she was enveloped in black shadow and blue light) with a shout. She didn't know what the being she commanded was at first, but the name had been placed in her mind. As new as it was, declaring it as she tore off the mask was as natural as breathing. "Persona!" Arsene glowed blue behind her. Pointing towards the left pumpkin creature, Aki felt a rush of power leave her, the beast being enveloped in red and black twists. It squawked out, reeling from the hit. The right pumpkin, however, dove right in, spinning and hitting Aki with its lantern. A flash of pain flew through her, but the adrenaline of the battle meant it was gone just as quickly as it had arrived.

Arsene extended his wings behind her, and Aki suddenly felt a peculiar weight in her right hand. Looking down, she saw a large blade curled in her gloved fist, razor sharp and ready for action. The persona behind her called out instructions. " _Swing your blade!"_ Time for a little revenge. Eyeing down the rightmost pumpkin, Aki dove towards it, slashing it across the face as it squawked just like its neighbour had. Arsene seemed pleased, floating up higher. " _This power of mine is yours! Kill them however you want. Run wild to your heart's content!"_

"Strange way to say that I'm free to do as I please." Smirking as she bantered casually with an inhuman beast, Aki tore off her mask, releasing a flow of red and black to the right pumpkin, destroying it entirely. Dodging an attack from the left creature, she jumped in with her blade again, twisting and swinging her arm until it was reduced to black mist, the hissing sound of it vanishing matching its companion. She had done it.

As the adrenaline of the battle faded out, she was brought back to the word around her. A familiar voice spoke up- Ryuko, still sitting against the wall and staring her down with bewilderment. "What… What was that just now?" As her normal senses came back to her, Aki found herself asking the same question. Everything she'd just done was instinct, purely based off a nature she'd never encountered before. Ryuko was asking the right questions, she mused as she looked over her strange outfit- what the hell _was_ that? It was all so surreal Aki half-expected to wake up any moment now. But the awakening never came, and she remained just as confused as Ryuko. It didn't look like either one of them had time to try and answer that right now, though- Kamoshida was storming across the cell from where he'd been cowering, rage in his eyes as he marched towards the black haired girl.

"You little…!" Aki braced herself, one hand on the mask now covering her face as she prepared to defend herself. However, Arsene wasn't needed- Ryuko had stood up, taking a running start at Kamoshida before turning her torso and ramming him with her shoulder. The man cried out in surprise as he tumbled to the floor, a strange clattering sound distracting Aki.

"Hah! You like that, you son of a bitch?!" Ryuko practically shrieked at the man who laid stunned on the tile ground. The costumed girl would have cheered her new companion on in any other case, but that clanging noise had caught her attention- Kamoshida had dropped a ring of keys right by Ryuko's foot. There was their ticket to safety! Pointing at them, Aki shouted in the blonde's direction.

"Sakamoto-san! Lock the cell!" Ryuko looked over at Aki in confusion before following her hand to see where she was pointing, brown eyes lighting up with an understanding when she laid eyes on the heart shaped key ring. Snatching them up, the blonde bolted for the cell door, Aki following closely behind. Slamming it shut, Ryuko locked it behind her, ensuring Kamoshida was safely away from both of them.

Speaking of the speedo-wearing man, he stumbled to his feet, shouting indecipherable words in anger as he realized what the girls had done. It sounded like it had more than one debasing comment about one of their- or perhaps both of their?- appearances, leading both students to quickly tune him out. There were bigger things to deal with. Ryuko turned to Aki, asking her question again. "What was that just now?! And… your clothes!"

Just as she said that, a flash of blue overtook Aki's body. In just a moment, she was back to exactly how she'd looked before her awakening- tidy school uniform, neatly tied braids, and black rimmed glasses. She even had her schoolbag on her shoulder. Ryuko leapt back a bit, clearly jittery after everything she'd just witnessed. Who could blame her? "Eh?! It went back to normal! Seriously, what's- waaaah!"

The blonde interrupted herself with her own shriek as Kamoshida suddenly banged on the bars in his demands for attention, startling both girls. "You bitches! Goddamn thieves! You won't get away with treating the King like this!" Recovering from the shock, Ryuko's face hardened, and she turned away from the cell to throw the keys as far away as she possibly could before looking back at Aki.

"We gotta scram! You lead the way!" A sentiment the black haired girl could certainly agree with. Nodding, she took off to the right, Ryuko following closely behind her as Kamoshida shouted after them.

* * *

The dungeons of the castle felt like some sort of hellish maze. Neither girl had any idea where they were going- even if Aki was technically the one navigating, it was really a case of the blind leading the blind. She felt a rising sense of anxiety as she and Ryuko navigated locked doors, broken bridges and crawlspaces. This place was huge, and after a brief moment of hiding behind some barrels, they'd realized guards were out and about on the prowl for them. How on earth were they supposed to get out of here? A flashy demon and cool outfit were all fine and good, but Aki doubted either of her newfound skills were any good for finding the exit. Things only got worse as they passed various girlish figures hanging from cages or trapped in cells. Would that fate await them if they couldn't get out of here…? _Yongen, line transfers, I'm sorry for thinking you were difficult to navigate! I'll never complain again if I can just get out of here, I promise!_

Aki's cycle of fear was fortunately broken as they passed one particular cell. A voice called out to them- childish and squeaky, like it belonged to a little girl. "Hey! Blondie! Frizzy hair! Look over here!"

Turning to the source of the voice in sync with Ryuko, Aki… didn't see anything. Staring into the cell, all she saw were similar furnishings (could shackles and wooden beds be called that?) to what they'd had in their own cell when they woke up here. What on earth had made that noise? Aki jolted as the blonde girl beside her gasped in surprise, pointing downwards. "What is this thing?!" Following the girl's line of sight, the dark haired girl briefly wondered if perhaps that pumpkin thing had hit her a little too hard in the head. Because when she looked down, she saw a little black… cat? Hopping around on its hind legs, the animal couldn't have even been two feet tall. The bottom half of its face was white, matching its paws. Big blue eyes and a yellow neckerchief stood out amidst the predominantly black colouring, and it waved a white paw to grab the girl's attention. Was it wearing a utility belt?!

"You're not soldiers of this castle, right? Get me out of here!" Despite the oddly youthful voice, it seemed to be just as capable of speech as any human was, making the whole situation all the stranger. "Look, the key's right there!"

"We don't have time, we're trying to get the hell out of here! And you look like an enemy, too!" Ryuko took a moment before responding to the cat-thing, seemingly just as stunned by it as Aki was.

"One thing after another today…" Aki murmured, briefly removing her glasses to clean them with the fabric of her blazer. Even after her bizarre transformation, the logical part of her refused to believe this wasn't just her vision playing a trick on her. About the glasses… she could see perfectly when she'd only been wearing that mask, and she was almost certain it had no lenses. What was with that?

A mystery to be pondered later, it seemed, as the creature's eyes widened as it waved its paws more frantically. "I'm locked up here, so how can I be your enemy!? Hell me out!"

"Quiet down!" Aki urged. She'd put her glasses back on and it was still present, just as real and cartoonish as she'd remembered. Put processing that on the backburner- another thing to add to the pile of events she'd be mulling over all night while trying to sleep. If she was even _alive_ come bedtime, that is. She'd demanded the cat quiet down specifically because she'd remembered all the knights that roamed the dungeon hallways- what if this thing made enough noise to beckon them? And speak of the devil, Aki could hear the sound of distant footsteps in the distance. Judging by the way they tensed, both the cat monster and Ryuko heard it too.

It spoke quieter this time, but with no less desperation. "I'm begging you; you have to help me! Look, we can make a deal! You wanna know where the exit is, don't you? Let me out and I'll guide you there. You don't want to get caught and executed, right!"

She most certainly did not, actually. Aki bit her lip, staring the creature over. "You had better not be lying to us."

"I'm not lying!" It spoke just a bit too loudly in its desperation before realizing its mistake, and finishing the sentence in a quieter (but no less desperate) tone. "It's the truth! Lady thieves don't lie!"

"Lady… What? Dude, this thing seems like it's all talk. Whadda we do?" Ryuko cast a skeptical look at Aki, making the cat beast hop around with even more vigor than before. If it was calling itself a lady thief, perhaps 'it' wasn't exactly the best way to refer to the creature in the cell, Aki mentally decided.

"If you guys think you can get out on your own, then be my guest!" She shook the bars for emphasis, the sound of footsteps getting louder. They didn't have much time to decide, and the strange creature knew it. "They'll catch you if you don't hurry!"

Looking over at Aki worriedly, Ryuko sighed, both of them seemingly realizing that this thing was their best shot at an escape. "F-Fine." The blonde moved forwards to help unlock the door. Leaping out as soon as she was freed, the cat-like creature stretched her little arms, sighing happily. She looked like she was about to say something, but Ryuko was on her case right away. "We let you out, so where's the exit, monster cat?"

Leaping to face Ryuko, the strange creature stomped a paw on the ground in anger. "Don't call me a cat! I am Morgana!"

The blonde wasn't having any of it, glaring daggers at Morgana. "Shuddup and hurry it up! You wanna be locked up again?" Balking at the idea, the cat-but-not-a-cat-apparently shook her head.

"A-All right, sheesh!" She peered off in one direction, nodding to herself . "Follow me, and stay quiet!" With no better option, both Ryuko and Aki set off after the strange 'lady thief'.

* * *

Kawakami sat in the faculty room, eyes glancing up from the large pile of papers sat in front of her to check the clock. Noticing how late it was getting, the woman sighed, shaking her head and going back to the one unmarked name on her attendance sheet. "... It's fourth period already. Sakura-san said that Kurusu-kun left the house this morning… should I contact the police?"

Nobody else was in the faculty office, meaning the young teacher could mumble to herself freely without acquiring any strange looks from the other staff- it was a habit she'd picked up from stress. "Mm… No, that'll just be more of a hassle." Sighing, she tapped her pen against the stack of paper, resisting the urge to flop her head down on it. "What did I do to deserve this?"

* * *

Meanwhile, the absent student was off on an adventure even more harrowing than the first day at a new school. Aki and Ryuko had been lead around by Morgana fairly well, the cat (she'd decided to mentally refer to her as such despite the creature's claims to not be any sort of feline in the name of making things easier on her already overwhelmed mind) seemingly possessing a good knowledge of the area. That didn't make Ryuko any less suspicious that maybe this thing was some sort of monster leading them into a trap, bickering with the creature all the way. Luckily, something cut the obnoxious squabbling off! Unluckily, it was a guard that the girls ran into as they sped around a corner. Yeah, Aki would have preferred to listen to more fighting over this.

Ryuko wasn't able to stop in time (come to think of it, her running stance was odd- she seemed to favour one legs slightly), skidding onto her rear when she saw the knight. "Shit, shit, it's them!"

"Tch, you amateur! Stay still!" Morgana huffed, jumping from the ground and off Ryuko's shoulder to land in front of both girls, taking a powerful stance. Aki felt alarm bells go off in her head- this thing would get crushed by these monsters! However, Morgana seemed completely confident as she faced the now alert guard down, briefly looking back in Aki's direction as the girl's clothing suddenly lit up in blue before it transformed into that strange costume from before. "Hey, you! You can fight, right? Let's go!" Spinning once and turning up to face the sky, Morgana let out one mighty shout. "Come, Zorro!"

An explosion of blue flames erupted from the cat, and Aki could faintly hear Ryuko's yelp of surprise as they both watched the little creature summon a massive beast of its own. A barrel chested figure emerged from the fire, clad in a black outfit that reminded the costumed girl of some sort of bullfighter, complete with all the elaborate buttons and an enormous belt with a huge silver 'Z' in the center. With its menacing glare and enormous moustache, the thing couldn't look anything _less_ like Morgana. Waving a pointed sword in its musclebound arm, it swished out an outline of the last letter of the alphabet. With such a flashy introduction and the way Morgana bravery stared down the enemy, Aki felt a wave of confidence wash over herself. Maybe it was just the adrenaline and Arsene preparing to emerge that was making her feel that way, but she couldn't help imagining that maybe learning of the cat's power had some effect on her too. This thing was no sweat- it was two against one!

Meanwhile, Ryuko seemed more shocked than anything else- she'd really been through the wringer today, hadn't she? "Y-You got one of those things too?!" Her head swivelled to watch the guard melt into red and black as it prepared to transform, emitting a troubled noise. Morgana, however, seemed completely unbothered.

Crossing her arms, the cat puffed out her chest. "Hmph! We will promptly shut them up!" The ooze burst up, splitting into two beasts- a pumpkin identical to the one Aki had fought before, and some sort of winged demon with an oversized, pointed… erm. Anyways. Aki quickly looked away, focusing on Morgana's voice instead. The cat sounded annoyed.

"Damn Shadows. They've taken up intercept positions! They're really not gonna be holding anything back! But I'll back you up, so fight like your life depends on it!" Aki looked down, nodding at the cat's declaration- and when did she get a curved sabre?! Her little utility belt was too small for something like that! The black haired girl reprimanded herself quickly: remember, bigger problems at hand than a cat with hammerspace. Monsters, yeah? Yeah.

Turning first to the red creature, Aki darted towards it, swinging her blade and getting it across the ribs. Morgana laughed as she watched the girl swing, shaking her head as Aki returned back. "Hmph, I knew you were an amateur! This is how you fight, so watch me closely! Zorro, show your might!" In a twist, the cat had brought her persona into existence. With a swing of his blade, green light shot from Zorro at the pumpkin. Hitting it, the creature let out a distressed yowl ('hee hoo', maybe? Or had Aki misheard it?) as it fell to the floor, head rocking. How on earth did Morgana get it down so fast?!

"Strike at an enemy's weakness to knock them down, and use that opening to strike again!" With her second turn, the cat once again threw a green blast of light at the pumpkin creature, the monster vanishing in a cloud of black mist. Turning back to the last foe, Aki tore off her mask with a call for Arsene, destroying the demon with a blast of black and red. Another battle done like it was nothing. She'd never been a fighter of any sort- she'd played some sports as a child, sure, but that wasn't combat (and even then, she was the type of kid to sit down in the soccer field mid-match to try and eat a dandelion while her parents yelled from the sidelines). Why did these complicated movements feel so natural to her…?

She was torn out from her musing by Morgana's voice. "Not bad! Your Persona's pretty powerful." There was that word again- it was a part of Aki's mind, something she'd known well enough to yell while fighting with Arsene. He was a Persona, and something in her soul _knew_ to call him one. But somehow… she didn't know what it meant past that. So much was a mystery to her.

Apparently, it was one to Ryuko, too, who had approached the two now that the monsters had been vanquished. "Persona…? Y'mean that thing that comes outta you guys all dramatic-like?"

"Yes," Morgana nodded. "You saw how Frizzy here ripped off her mask when she summoned it, right? Well, everyone wears a mask deep within their heart. By removing that…" The cat was interrupted as Aki's outfit went up in a puff of blue flames, leaving her in her regular clothing once again- and with re-braided hair at that. If only all hairstyles could be done so quickly…

"Eh? She turned back to normal." Ryuko cocked her head, curious.

"Hm, it looks like you don't have full control over your power yet." Pausing, she sniffed the air, eyes narrowing. "Something's not right here. I'll explain as we go, okay? It's not safe to just stand around!" With that, the cat turned in the direction they'd intended to head before meeting that knight face to face, bounding off and leaving the two girls to catch up.

* * *

Morgana was helpful enough to give a little more of an explanation as the group kept moving, navigating them to the exit at the same time. They got a bit more of an explanation on Personas and how they functioned, so at least Aki understood where Arsene had came from and why it felt so natural to fight with him- if he really was a part of her true self, of course she'd be familiar with him and how he functioned, even if she didn't consciously realize it. Ryuko was having a much harder time processing something that complicated and ended up bugging Morgana with all her interrupting and incessant questions. There'd been a bout of squabbling, a brief battle, another round of squabbling, an explanation on Persona skills, and some _more_ squabbling over what looked to be a Shujin girl in a sports uniform lying injured in a cell. Even Aki wanted answers on that one, but Morgana was in too much of a hurry to even allow them to stop. At long last, the group arrived at a darkened hallway, the cat stopping in front of a specific door. "Alright, we're here!"

"Finally!" Ryuko exhaled, clearly relieved. "We're saved!"

 _Saved from that bickering_ , Aki wanted to say, but decided on holding her tongue for now. She was pretty eager to get out too, and didn't want to let her composure slip on the last go. Leading the two inside, Morgana's exit turned out to be… located in a room with no doors or windows, aside from the one they'd just come in through. Ryuko noticed, squinting down at the cat. "Where are we supposed to get out from here?! There aren't even any windows!"

The cat sighed, placing her paws on her hips. "Ugh, what an amateur…" She sure liked that word, huh? "This is the most basic of basics!"

Trying to see what Morgana was referring to, Aki's eyes wandered across the room, stopping on an odd cross-shaped grate. "A ventilation shaft…" She mumbled. The cat interpreted it as a response, however, and nodded approvingly at the black-haired girl.

"That's right! As I thought, you're a natural at this." She pointed up at it with a white paw. Funny, the even markings on her forearms almost looked like white gloves. _She'd be a hit on the internet_ , Aki mused as Morgana kept talking. "It leads all the way outside."

"I see…" Ryuko hummed, stretching one arm out. "Then we just gotta get that mesh off!" Without waiting for any confirmation, the blonde darted towards the wooden shelving units just below the vent. As she clambered up, Aki confirmed her earlier suspicion: Ryuko really _did_ favour one leg. Her attention was pulled from the girl's leg usage to the sudden crash as she pulled back the grate, falling back and taking several bricks from the wall with her.

"Crap, you okay?" It didn't look like a hard fall, but it was a bit high for Aki's tastes, and she went over to offer the blonde a hand up. Grimacing and nodding in thanks, the blonde reached out and hoisted herself up. Another strange thing the glasses-clad girl was noticing about the other student: despite the flashy bleach blonde hair, that was about as far as the other girl had devoted herself to any attempt at being stylish. Her hands were rough and calloused, nails unpainted and bitten down. From this close, she didn't seem to be wearing any makeup either, and her shoe and sock choices seemed to lean towards being functional over fashionable. On top of everything, the slightly fried look of her hair and hastily done ponytail indicated even that wasn't something she put much effort into. If this girl really was going for some sort of gal look, she really didn't have her heart in it at all…

Ryuko cocked an eyebrow at her, and Aki realized she'd just been staring at her face for a minute. Shrugging it off, Ryuko dusted off her skirt. "Yeah, I'm fine. Damn, we're finally getting outta this hellhole…!"

"Wait on celebrating until you actually get out!" Morgana lectured. "Now get going."

"But what about you?" Despite all their bickering, Ryuko did seem concerned about the safety of the cat.

"There's something I still have to to do here, so I won't be joining you." The feline replied with a flick of her tail. "We're going our separate ways."

If the cat really was adventuring back into the cavernous castle, Aki would need to thank her now. "Thank you so much. You really saved us back there."

Morgana's cat-like smile grew a bit wider. "You've got some manners. Careful on your way out."

Both eager to get back to the outside world, the two girls clambered onto the shelves, crawling out of the vent. Morgana watched them as they left, crossing her arms and tilting her head a bit. "Those two seem useful… Especially the frizzy-haired one, if my judgement's right."

* * *

After all but falling into the alley they'd used to walk to the castle in the first place, it was a fairly mutual decision for the two girls to go out into the open and get some fresh air while they composed their thoughts. Seeing real, breathing, non-murderous knight human beings was immensely calming after what they'd been through. Standing a bit out from under the ledge where Aki had found herself early that morning, Ryuko looked around as the other student caught her breath. "So I guess we made it…?"

There was a beep in Aki's blazer pocket. Right, phones would be working properly again. Pulling it out, it was still on that peculiar red and black navigation app. A robotic female voice started to speak, Ryuko leaning in to hear it better. " _You have returned to the real world. Welcome back."_

"Returned… So we got away for sure, yeah?" Understandably, Ryuko didn't want to walk to school only to find that damn castle still there.

Aki shrugged, unable to give any definitive answer. "I mean, I think so."

"I _hope_ so." The blonde sighed, staring off to the side in frustration. "What was all that anyways? That castle, and Kamoshida, and that weird cat! What the hell is going on?!" Her voice raised gradually, and Aki flinched as Ryuko all but shouted the last line. Volume control didn't seem to be her forte. It wouldn't attract any monsters out here, but it attracted something even worse: truancy officers. The noise caused a pair of passing officers to slow down, looking them over suspiciously. Shit.

"What's with the yelling?" The taller officer demanded. "Are you students of Shujin? We wouldn't be cutting classes, are we?"

Ryuko blinked before shaking her head. "Huh? No! We were tryin' to get to school, and we ended up at this weird castle!"

Aki _really_ wished she wasn't still slightly queasy and off her game after leaving the castle, because she would have been able to act faster and hop in before Ryuko to keep her from trying to explain that to someone who would never believe it. The officer narrowed his eyes. "... What? Hand over your bag. I had better not find any drugs."

"Drugs?!" Ryuko balked, insulted. "Why would you think that?!"

The shorter of the two turned to Aki, looking her over and deeming her to be a more respectable sort than the mouthy blonde if the way his expression softened slightly when he actually spoke indicated anything. "Are you her friend?"

Finally, a chance to fix this disaster waiting to happen. "Ah, yes! We're friends. I'm sorry, I… got sick on the walk here. She brought me back home to help me clean up. We were just heading back." Aki silently thanked whatever powers that be that she was able to formulate a good lie on the spot. Given her record and all the distress she'd faced back at home… Well, she wasn't exactly a pro when it came to dealing with the police. Made her anxious.

The officer nodded, seemingly accepting her answer. "Then head straight to school. If it happens again, please go to your school's nurse for help instead of turning around."

Aki was perfectly content to leave it at that, but Ryuko apparently wasn't, butting back in just as the black haired girl was about to say goodbye. "But it was a freakin' castle! With all these guards and-"

Shit. That tall officer was pulling out a notebook. Getting in trouble with the cops on her first day of school with her record?! This girl's big mouth was going to get Aki sent back to juvie! _I'm sorry about this, Ryuko…!_ Bringing her foot up, the glasses-clad girl quickly brought it down on the sneaker of the blonde. Interrupting herself to yelp out over the stomp, Aki quickly rejoined the conversation. "Oh, yeah! My house is… um, really big! It totally surprised her, she kept calling it a castle and saying that our housekeeper was a guard! F-Funny! Her reaction was, um, adorable! Comeonwegottagettoschoolthankyouofficers!" Grabbing the still hissing-in-pain Ryuko by the forearm, Aki all but darted in the opposite direction, dragging the blonde along with her.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Ryuko dug in her heels, forcing Aki to stop. "Man, what was that for?! I just got the crap beat outta me by Kamoshida! Would it kill ya to go easy on me?"

"Sakamoto-san, did you see the way those cops were looking at you?" Now it was Aki's turn to get irritated. "They thought you were on drugs! I can't get in any trouble here, okay? I had to get us away as quick as possible."

"There had to have been a way to do that without stompin' my toes into the ground!" She huffed, though the blonde didn't really seem all that angry. "Why can't you get in any trouble, though? One report for cuttin' class wasn't gonna kill you."

Whoops. Aki's eyes flicked to the ground briefly. "It's… Complicated, I guess. Anyways, we seriously do need to get to school. We need to to see if it's still a castle!" And maybe actually go to class like the good girl she was supposed to be for this year, but the transfer student wasn't about to bring that up anymore.

Reaching back to scratch her neck, Ryuko nodded. "Then what're we waiting for? Let's check it out."

When the girls arrived, it was a completely ordinary school. This was certainly for the best, but it didn't make anything less confusing. They'd taken the same path they had that morning, and yet there was no ominous fortress to greet them. Where exactly had they been? Ryuko exhaled harshly, trying to figure it out for herself. "Is this for real? We went the exact same way we did this morning… what's goin' on here?"

"That's exactly what I wanted to ask you." A new voice joined the conversation, making the girls jump. A man in a brown suit stood at the stop of the stairs, glaring down at both students harshly. "We received a call from the police."

Aki's stomach dropped as that was mentioned, but she did her best to keep a straight face. Was she already done for…? Ryuko, on the other hand, had no need to keep up a neutral expression, and chose instead to grimace. "Ugh, that cop snitched on us after all!"

"It's rare not to see you alone." The man turned his gaze solely to the blonde. "Where were you roaming around until this time?"

 _Come on, we know nobody will believe the castle story now! I told you as much, so make something up!_ Despite Aki's best efforts to beam her message into Ryuko's brain, she was not a psychic, and Ryuko was not that clever. "Um… A ca- a castle?" She offered, realizing partway through that it really _was_ entirely unbelievable.

Too little too late. The man was glaring at them. "So you have no intention of giving an honest answer?"

Another voice joined the fray at the same time- one that was oddly familiar. "What's this about a castle?" Another man walked forth, this one dressed much more casually in blue trackpants and a hoodie, a stopwatch hung around his neck. It took a moment for Aki to recognize him without the yellow eyes and cape, but she nearly choked on her breath when she realized it was Kamoshida. Oh _shit._

Ryuko realized it faster, stiffening at the sight of him. "Kamoshida?!"

The teacher chuckled a bit upon seeing who it was. "You seem so carefree, Sakamoto. Quite a difference from when you did morning practice for the track team." Something seemed… off, making Aki's eyes narrow. Shouldn't this guy be yelling about them locking him in a cell or grilling her on what she'd used to take down his guards by now? Why was he acting so clueless?

The blonde student clenched her fists, and Aki could almost feel the anger radiating off the other girl. "Shuddup! It's your fault that-"

The suited man cut in, raising his voice in indignation. "How dare you speak that way to Mr. Kamoshida! There's not much leeway left for you, you know?"

"But he's the one that provoked me!" Ryuko snapped back.

"Do you really want to be expelled?!" Countered the suited man. Aki felt as if she was missing half the facts here. Their interaction in the castle was proof enough that Ryuko and Kamoshida had some sort of history together, and this only made it clearer, but… what had happened? "In any case, you'll have to explain yourself! Follow me!"

Kamoshida smiled, turning to the suited man. "Come now. I should have been more considerate too. Let's just say that we were both to blame."

The man pursed his lips, thinking it over. "Well, if you say so." He turned to Ryuko again, shooting another glare at her direction. "Still, you're coming with me. It's undeniable that you're extremely late."

Ryuko looked as if she wanted to explode on the guy, but simply sighed when she realized she was fighting a hopeless battle. "Fine…"

The curly haired man turned his attentions from Ryuko to Aki, the girl feeling her stomach crawl as soon as he looked at her. After what she'd seen of him in that castle…! "By the way, you're that new transfer student, correct? Aki Kurusu…"

Clearing his throat, the suited man tilted his head, motioning for Ryuko to follow. Grumbling, the blonde walked up the stairs as she tailed the man, stopping only as she landed on the same step as Kamoshida. She turned to look at him, speaking through clenched teeth. "Don't try anything with her." Turning her head back down to face the ground, Ryuko quickly stepped upwards, following the suited man and leaving Aki's line of sight.

There went her only ally. The black haired girl felt uncomfortably stiff as soon as she realized it was just her and him. Kamoshida chuckled, turning to face Aki and tilting his head a bit. "... Have we met somewhere?"

Shit, did he actually remember?! Play it cool! Aki pursed her lips, shaking her head. The neutral appearance of a girl who certainly hadn't been running around wildly in a terrifying death castle, no siree! "Ah, I don't think so."

Kamoshida paused, thinking it over. "Hm… Oh, I remember now. I saw you at the station this morning. Regardless, I'll overlook this just for today. Now, I know you're on some thin ice with the faculty here. Even so, if you ever need anything, come see me in the P.E office. I'll look out for you."

Coming from any other teacher, that would have been music to Aki's ears. An adult on her side, someone who she could go to if she was in trouble! But… if what Ryuko said at the station and what she saw in the castle was real… was he using her status as someone with a record to rope her in? Was it possible he was purposely setting it up so that she felt she could open up around him, come to him privately and trust him? Aki's stomach churned at the thought. She sincerely hoped she was just being paranoid. "... I appreciate it. Thank you." As much as his reaction disgusted Aki, it at least seemed as if perhaps he didn't recognize her from the castle… Was she in the clear? But he'd clearly seen her face, so- ugh. She had no mental energy to think about this right now, and it seemed like he was responding, so she tried to focus on that instead.

"Not a problem. Ms. Kawakami should be waiting for you in the faculty office, so I'd recommend you head there." Going to leave, Kamoshida stopped midway, turning back to give Aki a smile that would have been innocent in any other situation, but now made the girl want to crawl out of her skin. "Enjoy your new school life."

* * *

Aki cradled her aching neck, trying to ignore Sae's incredulous tone. "The school turned into an old castle…? A talking cat…? Are you hallucinating from an overdose? I won't put up with you if you're simply joking around." She inhaled deeply, pulling a large black binder from her bag and setting it on the desk.

"I'm going to have you continue the story. The one who received a 'calling card' from the Phantom Thieves was an Olympic medalist. An immensely well regarded athlete-" Sae paused to move one of the calling cards on the desk, revealing a photo below. "The PE teacher, Suguru Kamoshida."

Pushing the photo of the man forwards, Sae continued. "It is true that what he did were deplorable crimes from… indulging his desire. He confessed to it all. But there should have been no connection between the two of you, as you had just transferred. Why did you target him?"

"I don't want to say." The honest, simple truth was the best Aki could give. It certainly wasn't what Sae wanted, however, the woman standing up and abruptly slamming her hands down on the table in front of her. In her drugged state, it barely even startled the teenager.

"Kurusu, that is unacceptable! Try and recall it once again!"

* * *

Okay, and there's chapter three! I'm actually pretty content with the length of this one- what do you guys think? Shorter, longer, or is this fine? Let me know so I can consider it! All comments are greatly appreciated, and I'd be very thankful if you'd take a moment to leave one!

Anyways, time for the finishing notes:

\- I tried to keep Aki's thief outfit mostly the same, but I decided to add some more feminine touches. Trying to describe it was actual hell, I hope I got what I imagined across? Big thank you to my best friend for helping with deciding on the bottom half of the outfit, I was completely stuck when figuring it out.

\- I know that it's rare in the Persona universe for someone to have a Persona that doesn't either match their gender or appear as some genderless figure (excluding wildcards for obvious reasons). I simply couldn't come up with any good female equivalents to these Personas that I hadn't seen already used in fics with similar premises, so I just sort of… gave up. I had one idea for fem!Yusuke, but it would be weird if she was the only one with a different Persona, yeah? But hey, Arsene is cool as hell, so I'm not exactly torn up about having to keep him in

\- Morgana is… the same. Like. Very nearly the exact same. She's a mystery amnesia cat who turns into a bus. Bonafide Monafide!

\- I've seen a lot of people use Ryuko for fem!Ryuji, but gosh it's such a fitting name I couldn't resist. Anyways, I should probably note that, given the way being a girl around Kamoshida changes things a lot, her story is somewhat different here. A lot is the same, but there's a lot that's changed, too, and that does include some sexual themes. Maybe that's a slight spoiler, but I think it's relatively vague, and I really do believe it would be irresponsible of me not to warn people about this type of content before they get in too deep (I'll still include warnings in chapters that deal with it ofc!). Honestly, I'm really looking forwards to getting to consider the different ways growing up a girl in a "rotten society" like the one we see here will change the thieves. I'm just really excited to write this story, gosh!


	4. CH4: The Skull of Rebellion

Hello everyone, and Happy New Years! Thank you all for the kind reviews- they really do mean the world to me. Here's the next chapter as promised. What do I even put here… Content warning: Kamoshida? Because that's the best heads up I can give you. It's getting rough for our girls.

* * *

Pondering what to do about scary castles that held questionable relationships with reality had to be put on the back burner for now, Aki told herself as she entered the school building. She needed to go see Kawakami and apologize for being dramatically late on her first day- hopefully she was the forgiving type…? Though it's not like the young teacher had seemed thrilled about having a criminal in her class when Aki first met her, so the transfer student figured maybe hoping for a kind reaction would be setting herself up for disappointment. Navigating the school building, she noticed two things at first: one, Shujin was a lot bigger than what she'd seen on her first visit, and two, whispers seemed to be following her everywhere she went.

 _"Did you see what people were saying on that one site? It's her…"_

 _"Drinking, smoking, partying with old guys… I heard she's done it all."_

 _"I heard someone with an assault charge just got transferred here as a second-year."_

 _"Her life's over already. She should just disappear."_

There were a lot of concerning things about this recent development- namely, how on earth did people recognize Aki…? Had her face been put on some online registry? She genuinely had no idea, as she'd purposely avoided looking up any details on her case. It was her mother and father who handled all the details of the suit and charge- after all, Aki was a child, and had no idea what half of the technical terms and complicated kanji she saw on the waves of paperwork even meant. Maybe she could try giving her parents a call tonight and ask if her name was released, but… they'd apparently been pretending like she didn't exist ever since she ended up in Tokyo, so she had her doubts on them even picking up. Ducking her head down and trying to ignore the whispers, Aki only stumbled upon the faculty office by pure dumb luck. It was difficult having to divert her attention to blocking out the student voices, so it was understandable that she'd have trouble focusing on navigation. Pausing outside the entrance, resigned to how she was probably about to get chewed out by Kawakami, Aki slowly pushed open the door to reveal an ordinary faculty room filled with a few teachers milling about. Only one, however, was the one she needed to see. Raising her head as she heard the footsteps approaching, Kawakami sighed heavily as Aki paused beside her desk. "Unbelievable. Being over half a day late on your first day? Can you explain yourself?"

Yes, she could, but that didn't mean she should. She'd seen the way those cops reacted to Ryuko's retelling. Who would believe the truth? If she tried to explain the castle and Kamoshida, Kawakami would no doubt assume she was being a smartass. Aki bit her lip, casting her gaze to the side. "I'm not used to Tokyo yet. I got lost."

Unfortunately, it didn't look like Kawakami was buying that either. The woman narrowed her eyes at the girl. "I know you're from the countryside, but how could you have been lost for this long? It's almost lunchtime. I'd accept that you could get lost for a while, but not nearly that long." She pushed some of her papers to the far side of her desk, and Aki noticed how cluttered everything was kept, overflowing folders and various old, stained coffee cups that should have been brought home and washed ages ago covering the desk. Kawakami was either very messy, or just too tired to care. The latter seemed more likely when the student saw the deep bags under her eyes barely covered with concealer. "Will you pull yourself together? You were given a fair warning yesterday. And more importantly, I heard that you were caught with that Sakamoto-kun."

"I didn't have a choice." That part was true. Aki certainly didn't mind Ryuko from what she'd seen of her so far, but… Well, there were other people she'd rather have been stuck in a murder castle with. People who didn't give her headaches pointlessly arguing with a magical cat again and again, for example.

Kawakami sighed again, turning her chair to face Aki. "Don't get involved with her, okay? She's nothing but trouble. She wasn't like that when she was devoting her time to track and field, though… It's a shame." Shaking her head, she crossed her arms across her chest and got herself back on topic. "Anyways, classes will end after fifth period today because of the subway accident. I'll have you introduce yourself when class resumes. Come with me."

Gathering a few things off from her disorganized workspace, Kawakami pushed back her chair to stand, Aki stepping back to give her space. Just as she'd predicted, the teacher wasn't happy at all. She should be back at home, starting her second year in her old high school. It's not like she had any tight friend group to miss- though she'd never been bullied, she'd been a bit of a loner- but people were nice to her when they did talk to her. The teachers had been kind as well. All the people here saw was a criminal. She hoped her expression didn't look as frustrated as she felt on the inside as she followed Kawakami out of the room.

* * *

 _"Being super late on her first day? She really is insane…"_

People had no volume control here, Aki had determined as she stood in front of her class. What sounded like it was meant to be a whisper from one girl to another ended up being clear enough for her to hear, even amidst the rest of her new classroom's chatter over her arrival. Her hands were folded together in front of her, and she gently squeezed them together as she tried to avoid looking hurt. She knew she needed to get used to this, she _knew_ that, but it wasn't easy. Kawakami saved her, clearing her throat. "Alright, everyone settle down. I'd like to introduce a transfer student. This is Aki Kurusu. She's from… where was it, Kurusu-kun?"

"Inaba." She answers, noting the confused look on Kawakami's face. "... It's a small town. Yamanashi prefecture? Most people probably haven't heard of it."

"Ah, alright. That would explain it… Kurusu-kun isn't used to Tokyo yet and got lost this morning, but she made it for the afternoon." The same lie she'd told the woman before- Aki might have even thought Kawakami had believed her and was simply relaying the lie, but judging by the borderline sarcastic tone the teacher used, she probably just couldn't be bothered to come up with another reason to tell to the class about her absence. "Alright, please say something to the class."

"Nice to meet you." Aki bowed respectfully. Maybe if she was polite enough, that would prove that she wasn't violent like the rumours claimed? Judging by the raised eyebrows and whispers thrown around the class, though, that didn't seem like it would work. The lack of positive reaction was awkward for everyone, and Kawakami fidgeted a bit behind her podium.

"... Um, so… We'll have you sit over there." She pointed towards a seat on the far left wall, close to the back. "Sorry, but can the people nearby please share your textbooks with her for today?" A brown haired girl near Aki's assigned seat made an angry face, leaning over to whisper something to her friend. The transfer student shifted uncomfortably- maybe she wouldn't ask them for their books. Probably best to just not talk to anyone for now…

After a moment's hesitation, she started making her way to the back of the class. Something on the way stopped her, though- it was that blonde girl from the station, sitting at the desk exactly one space ahead of where Aki was meant to sit. The girl was holding her chin in one hand, seeming frustrated over something. "Lies…" She muttered under her breath as Aki approached. Was that directed at her?

"... Hm?" Aki made a small noise of confusion, tilting her head at the pigtailed student. She only sighed and turned towards the window, staring outside with a bitter expression. What was that all about…? It'd be pointless to ask her now, and probably super embarrassing for both of them. Shaking it off, Aki stepped back to take her seat, doing her best to ignore the whispers surrounding her as Kawakami started talking again.

"With that out of the way, let's get things started. Who's on duty today?"

A girl on the other side of the room stood up, dark blue hair left loose to brush the top of her shoulders. Aki didn't know what was more upsetting- the hunched over stance she took as she spoke so meekly, or the various bruises and bandages on her face. "Everyone, please rise…"

This was going to be a long year.

* * *

In the end, the girls around her didn't offer their books, and Aki didn't ask. She'd weighed her options, and decided that just staying silent and missing part of a lesson would be preferable to drawing any more attention to herself. If nothing else, her very light collection of notes at least ensured she was packed and out of the classroom quickly when the bell rang. Home sounded good about now- her real home, not that coffeeshop. But that was a whole year away… Stepping into the hallway, Aki mentally made a note to buy a calendar so she could cross each passing day off- maybe it would be helpful, letting her see that each day moved her closer to getting out of here.

Her thoughts were pulled away from her desire for home, however, as part of the hallway flickered before her eyes. Aki stared as the wood flooring of the hallways twisted into red-carpeted passages, walls lined with plush green chairs, before instantly turning back into the school. It was like that castle…! Stepping back in surprise, she brought a hand up to her head, rubbing her forehead. That ache again… Did seeing that other world give her head pain? She recalled that throb she'd had just after meeting Ryuko. A question distracted her from her thoughts. It was Kawakami, standing behind her and giving her a confused look as Aki turned to actually face her. "Hm? What's wrong?"

Standing still in the hall and clutching her head probably made her look downright weird, the black haired girl realized with a slight blush. Embarrassing, but… maybe she should double check something just in case. "Is this a school?"

"... Do you need to see the nurse?" Kawakami tilted her head. "Or are you just tired? I guess it doesn't really matter. Ah, I should probably mention… It seems like people are already talking about you, but I'm not the one who told them." So Aki wasn't just paranoid- the girls here really were being unabashed with how loud and frequently they gossiped if even teachers realized it. "They'll only talk more if you keep hanging around. I'd recommend heading straight home without stopping by anywhere. Sakura-san sounded pretty angry."

Swell. A fresh plate of being nearly killed several times in an otherworldly castle, sprinkled with school gossip and finally topped off with what would probably be a serious scolding from her probation officer. Aki would like something else from the menu, thanks. In fact, she'd rather be at a different restaurant entirely. She tilted her head down to look at her shoes. "I will."

"Good," The teacher nodded. "And one last thing. About Sakamoto-kun. Don't go getting involved-" She was cut off by the sounds of footsteps approaching. Aki turned her head slightly to find that the girl entering the scene was Ryuko Sakamoto herself. Kawakami grimaced, meeting the blonde's eyes. "Speak of the devil. What do you want? I heard the police caught you cutting classes today."

"It was nothin'." Ryuko shrugged. At least she still wasn't trying to convince people of the castle- even if it was the truth, nobody would believe it. High time she'd realized that.

Kawakami had more than one complaint, it seemed. "You haven't dyed your hair back to black, either."

"Sorry 'bout that." Despite her words, she didn't seem anything close to sorry. Turning to walk away, she paused beside Aki, lowering her voice to a whisper. "... I'll be waitin' on the rooftop." After delivering her short message, the blonde stuck her hands in her jacket pockets, shuffling away without any goodbyes. Kawakami crossed her arms, shaking her head as she watched the student wander off.

"See? That's why I don't want you getting involved. Do you understand?" Aki really didn't, actually. So far, Ryuko's list of crimes seemed to be skipping class once and having dyed hair. Not model student behaviour, but nothing like the delinquent the teachers seemed to be treating her as. Unless there was something else Aki didn't know about…? Either way, she nodded, exchanging a few quiet goodbyes as Kawakami took her leave as well, leaving the transfer student alone in the hallway. She really should head right home, and she was just told not to associate with Ryuko. But after today… Yeah, they really did need to talk about what had happened. To the roof it was.

It wasn't too hard actually finding the roof- much easier than the faculty room. She just had to go up and keep going up until she found the door. The little sign hanging off the handle declared that the roof was off limits, but the door itself was propped open. Screw it, what was one more broken rule after today? Aki pushed open the door, a fenced in rooftop greeting her. Those fences were much lower than those at her old school- wouldn't it get the school in trouble if someone climbed over them? But it's not like anyone would do something so dangerous, so maybe it was fine. Looking from the fences, Aki's eyes fall upon a bunch of scattered old desks and chairs pushed up against a large roof vent. A certain girl was sitting in one of them, her feet kicked up on her chair as she played idly with her cellphone- there was Ryuko. Looking up at the sound of footsteps, the blonde gave a nod as Aki approached her. "There you are. Hopefully your teacher didn't chew you out too bad after today."

"It wasn't that bad." The black haired girl shrugged, stuffing her hands in her jacket pockets as she idly looked over more of the roof. Was that a little vegetable garden? That was sort of cute… Maybe they used the food grown here in the cafeteria, but it was a pretty small collection of planters, so that seemed unlikely. Aki's attention was brought back to Ryuko as the girl absentmindedly tapped her foot against the desktop.

"That's good to hear. Sorry for callin' you up here like this. I bet Kawakami already told you stuff like 'don't get involved with her', huh?" The blonde girl huffed, frustration lacing her voice.

"How'd you know?" In a way, it was kind of funny that Ryuko was able to predict the teacher's reaction with such accuracy.

"Just figured as much." The blonde brought her foot off the desk, putting it on the floor and leaning to rest her elbows on her knees, chin in her hands. "But we're in the same boat. I heard you got a criminal record. Everyone's talkin' about it. No wonder you were so gutsy back there." Aki hadn't really thought about how Ryuko probably would have heard the rumours too, and a tinge of embarrassment hit her for not realizing something so obvious. Moving to lean against one of the desks, she elected to stay silent as Ryuko leaned in further, lowering her voice. "... What was all that that happened? You know, how we almost got killed at a castle… It wasn't a dream, right? You remember it too, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do..." As much as she'd like to believe it was simply something she'd dreamed up, the memories were too clear- and if Ryuko remembered too, the possibility that she just had an overactive imagination was getting less and less likely.

The blonde girl sighed, biting her lip. "Well, just 'cause we both remember it doesn't mean much… Maybe we had one of those group hall… Halluci… What are they called? Hallucinations? Like, maybe there was a gas leak in the alley and we got all screwed up!" After a beat of silence, she realized how silly that sounded, huffing and shaking her head. "Nah, that's stupid. But even if it was just some sort of dream, you saved me from Kamoshida. So yeah… Thanks, Aki."

First name and no honorifics already? This girl sure was casual, not that Aki really minded all that much. It was kind of nice to break those walls down quickly. "It was nothing. Don't worry about it." She said with a smile.

Ryuko smiled in return. "It was, though. But man… That Kamoshida we saw back there…" Her smile faded away, as did Aki's as memories of the caped teacher were brought into her mind. "You prolly don't know about it, but there are a lot of… rumours about him." The way she said 'rumours' was a bit strange, almost sounding sarcastic- did Ryuko know something else? "No one says anything against him 'cause he's some medalist who took the volleyball team to nationals. The way Kamoshida was at that castle felt crazy real 'cause of how he is normally… I wonder if we can go back to that castle again?"

Aki tilted her head, furrowing her brow. "Why do you want to go back?"

Opening her mouth to say something, Ryuko looked as if she was seriously thinking something over before snapping it shut, shaking her head and sighing before speaking again. "... Nah, just forget it. It had to have been some sort of crazy group dream. It's not like that could've been real, y'know?" Standing up, the girl leant down to rub one of her knees before straightening back up. "Sorry to drag you up here like this. That's all I had to say. Y'know, I think we might be kind of similar. I think we're gonna get along just fine as 'troublemakers'."

Two troublemaking girls banding together… Hey, if she was gonna be thought of as some delinquent, may as well have a friend along for the ride. Aki smiled in Ryuko's direction. "I think we will, too. Come talk to me if you see me around, okay?"

"You know it. Seeya later, man." With a smile of her own and a nod, Ryuko grabbed her bag off the ground, waving Aki goodbye as she headed for the door. The black haired girl stood there for a moment, watching her leave. As the sound of the door closing subsided, Aki turned her head to look off towards the fences, observing the city skyline for a moment. It was awfully pretty, buildings gleaming brightly in the sunlight. You'd never have guessed it had been raining that morning from how cloudless the sky now was. The walk back to the cafe would be a lot better now that-

 _Shit_ , the walk back to the cafe. If she didn't get going now, Sojiro would be fuming- not only was she late to school, but if she waited any longer, there was no doubt in her mind that her confusion over the train system would have her home late as well. Standing up so suddenly that one of her relaxed legs almost gave out, Aki made a beeline for the door. Time to brave the Tokyo subway system yet again.

It wasn't so bad on the way back, which was a relief. Because of the early end of the day due to that accident, the only people on the cars were either students or passing tourists instead of a flood of employees heading home for the day. As she pushed open the door to Leblanc, bell jingling lightly, Sojiro turned to look at her from behind the counter. Noticing that it wasn't a customer, the bearded man's eyes narrowed. "I got an interesting call from your school today. It's only your first day and you're already showing up hours late?"

"I'm sorry, it was an accident." Even if that was the truth, Aki flinched mid-sentence as she realized how lame it sounded. She'd probably assume it was a lie if she was in Sojiro's shoes. The man rolled his eyes as she finished.

"Yeah, that's what they all say." He grumbled, putting a hand on his hip. "Look, just behave yourself. Your life's forfeit if anything happens, do you understand?" Before Aki could respond, a muffled ringing noise came from the pocket of Sojiro's apron. Pulling it out, the man answered it with another casual "Yeah?". After a moment, he smiled in response to something being said. "... Yeah, I just closed up shop. I'll be there in half an hour… Mmhm. See you." Hanging up, he lowered the phone, smile vanishing instantly as he looked back at Aki. "What're you standing around here for? Go get ready for bed. Make sure you lock the doors and turn the lights off."

Nodding, Aki ducked her head down, hurrying upstairs and closing the door behind her. Dropping her bag on the counter at the stairwell, she paused to look over the room. It was still cluttered, but it wasn't dirty- and after all the weird things that had happened to her today, she was too exhausted to properly organize the space. Her eyes finally settled on the bed. Maybe she should just get ready to go to sleep…

* * *

She'd done just that, but her sleep didn't last very long. As confused eyes fluttered open to the sound of gentle piano and a cold feeling on her back, Aki slowly began to realize that she was having that dream again. Slowly rising to her feet, grimacing as she felt the cool pressure of the chains on her wrists and ankle, the angry girl- Caroline? That was her, right?- spoke sharply, drawing her attention to the door of her cell. "About time you came to!"

The calm girl- Justine?- chimed in as well. "Our master wishes to speak with you. Its for your own sake that you take his words to heart." Aki's eyes made their way to the center of the room. The identical girls might take a little while to get used to, but with a distinctive look like that, there was no forgetting Igor's name in her heart. Huge eyes staring at her, Igor kept his cheshire smile as he spoke.

"First off, let us celebrate our reunion. I see you've awakened to your powers- and special ones at that. Your rehabilitation can finally begin. You may have many queries, but know that there is no need to understand it all for the time being. You will be training the power of Persona, which you have awakened to." The man noticed Aki's confused expression, chuckling slightly. "Personas are, in other words, a 'mask'- an armor of the heart when confronting worldly matters. I have high expectations for you."

"What do you mean?" She'd already gotten a rundown on Personas from Morgana, and this was new information, but… This still didn't make sense. Why her? And what expectations did the old man mean? He certainly didn't seem too concerned.

"There is no need to worry. You will learn all you need when the time comes. By the by… Have you come to appreciate the Metaverse Navigator? Using it will allow you to come and go between reality and Palaces. I bestowed it upon you to train you as a thief." As the old man spoke, Aki only felt things getting harder and harder to follow.

"Metaverse Navigator…?" The difficult to understand conversation was starting to stress her out, and Aki subconsciously ran her hands up and down the bars in front of her several times, letting the cool metal of her cell calm her.

Caroline's harsh voice cut in, ringing through the circle of cells and echoing upwards. "The Metaverse Navigator is a gift from our master! You better take care in using it, Inmate!"

Justine followed up. Did they always speak in sync like this? "Devote yourself to your training so that you may become a fine thief."

"It must be disheartening to use the Metaverse Navigator alone." Igor's deep voice was somewhat of a strange sound to hear right after the girlish voices of the twins. "Should there be others who would prove beneficial to you, I will grant it to them as well. This is all for you to grow as a most excellent thief."

An alarm bell rung out once again, and Aki flinched visibly at the sudden noise. She heard Caroline laugh from her right. "Hah! It's time. Go back and enjoy whatever rest you might have."

Metaverse Navigator, Palaces, and that mention of rehabilitation… The world around her had faded to black before she had any time to plead for clarification.

* * *

It was raining again the next morning, judging by the pattering on the windows as Aki's eyes fluttered open. Either that, or they were under attack by a rogue flight of birds dive-bombing one side of the cafe. While much cooler than rain, she figured that probably wouldn't be the case as she got dressed for the morning. Once again, she felt somewhat… _drained_ by the strange dream, as it had left her body heavier and her mind less rested. Puzzling over what it could mean in relation to everything that had happened to her the other day, the black-haired girl didn't even realize she'd forgotten to grab breakfast until her stomach was growling from her seat on the train. Crap. If only she could have more breakfast curry...

Her trip to school was far less eventful than yesterday. The car was packed, but Aki had gotten a seat this time, and tried to take her mind off of another inevitable day of being treated like dirt by checking her map again and again. Boring, but considering that she managed to get to school with no problems (and especially no giant castles), it was a boring the girl could handle. Still, as she closed her umbrella just before walking under the awning outside the front doors of Shujin, Aki couldn't help but wonder why nothing had happened today. There had to be some reason she was actually at school today and not cosplaying in a nightmare castle, but what was it…? Sitting through a boring social studies lecture left her with plenty of time to think it over at the expense of her notes, but she had no answers by then. Or by next period. Or the next. Or by lunch, or for the rest of the day. Turns out sitting and staring blankly at your desk doesn't exactly inspire great brainstorming, especially not when you're blocking out whispers and blown-up gossip. Packing her things up to leave class, Aki was fully prepared to just call it a day and go home before a scene taking place outside her classroom doors made her take pause.

Kamoshida had stopped that pretty blonde girl from before by the stairwell, the man putting his hands on his hips and smiling down at her without a care. The girl looked entirely too rigid, the grip she had on the strap of her bag visibly tightening as he spoke. "Hey there, Takamaki. You looking for a ride home? Things have been pretty dangerous lately with all those accidents."

So that was her name, then? Aki watched quietly as Takamaki fidgeted, shifting her feet slightly. "Sorry, I have a photoshoot today. It's for the special summer issue, so I can't afford to miss it…"

Kamoshida sighed with concern in a way that made Aki's skin crawl. He seemed so… fake when he acted like he cared, especially after that strange side of him she'd seen in the castle. A shit actor if she'd ever seen one. "Hey now, being a model's fine and dandy, but don't work your pretty little self to the bone. You mentioned you weren't feeling well, right? Something about appendicitis?"

"Yes. I keep planning to go the hospital, but I've been too busy… Sorry to worry you." Nevermind, this girl was a worse actor. She seemed so stiff and robotic as she replied, clearly beyond uncomfortable with the situation. Aki couldn't blame her.

Giving her a (fake) sympathetic nod, Kamoshida kept talking despite Takamaki's body language indicating that she'd like this over as soon as possible. "You must be lonely too. I feel bad for keeping your best friend at practice so often. That's why I asked you out in the first place." _Asked her out?!_ , Aki's mind bellowed. Did he mean that in a dating way?! Were these two…?! "Oh, and I recommend you be careful around that transfer student. She's awfully cute, but she does have a criminal record. If something were to happen to you…"

"... Thank you." Aki silently thanked Takamaki for seemingly not believing any of that. "Please excuse me." She joined Kamoshida in watching the girl scurry off, her head tilted downwards and gaze glued in the floor. He said he'd asked her out, but… that definitely wasn't the conversation of a couple. The way Kamoshida's gaze darkened as he watched her form disappear around the corner only solidified that in Aki's mind. What was going on between those two? Either way, she didn't have time to worry about it- she should get home and try and beat the afternoon rush.

Exiting the school building, a certain blonde was waiting for her at the entrance- not Takamaki, but Ryuko. The girl offered a wave up at Aki, beckoning for her to come over. She really should just be getting home, but… It would be rude to just blow off the only person who's been nice to her since her arrival. She offered a smile in the boisterous girl's direction as she approached. "Sakamo- ah, Ryuko." Aki corrected herself as she remembered the way yesterday's conversation had pretty much ensured they could use first names. "It's nice to see you."

"You too, dude." Ryuko smiled, sticking her hands in the pocket of her blazer, though the cheerful expression dissolved into a more serious gaze as she spoke. "I wanted to talk about that castle from yesterday. I tried tellin' myself it was all just a dream… But I couldn't do it. I mean, you and I both saw it! I can't act like nothin' happened. It's all connected to that bastard Kamoshida, after all. I wanna find out what's up with that place, no matter what. And you're the only person I can rely on for this stuff. You in?"

Was she? Aki bit her lip as she thought it over. It was dangerous- if not for her Persona rearing its head and Morgana showing up, they both would have died. It seemed like them getting lucky like that a second time wasn't very likely. But even so… Ryuko's feelings mirrored her own, even if Aki didn't have any personal reason to dislike Kamoshida in the way the blonde evidently did. She wanted to find the truth of what was happening there, and if she had to take risks in that pursuit, she would. Nodding, Aki straightened up a bit. "I'm in. What next?"

"Hell yeah! Glad we're on the same page!" Ryuko pumped her fist in celebration. "I think we should just try and retrace our steps from yesterday. You're walkin' to the station anyways, right? Let's go together."

Ryuko didn't seem like a bad girl- a bit rough, maybe, but being a tomboy wasn't a crime. Why had Kawakami instructed her not to get involved, anyways? Aki pushed those thoughts aside for the time being as she followed the blonde down the proper path to the station, the two of them pausing in front of the awning where they'd first met just a day before. Turning back to the black haired girl, Ryuko grinned. "If a huge castle like that actually exists, we won't miss it! So… We went that way, right?" She pointed to the alleyway they'd taken before.

"I think so?" Aki shrugged, tilting her head to stare back at it. "It looks like the one, I think."

"When you say it like that, I'm not so sure either…" Ryuko paused, quickly shaking it off before shifting her bag up to rest more comfortably on her back (why'd she wear it like a backpack?). "Okay, let's try it. Follow me." And off she went, Aki trailing closely behind. Turning the corner, the two of them paused as they looked up upon… a completely ordinary Shujin Academy. Ryuko was the first to express her confusion. "Huh? But that had to be it! There wasn't anything out of place along the way… I bet we made a wrong turn somewhere. That's gotta be it. We'll go again."

A wrong turn?! It was an alleyway with one entrance and one exit! Aki turned to stare at Ryuko, one eyebrow raised. "You want to go again…?"

"Come on, I won't mess up this time! Let's go!" Before the transfer student could respond, Ryuko had grabbed her by the cuff of her sleeve, tugging her in the opposite direction. She was obviously the more eager out of the two of them when it came to solving this mystery… With no real way of deterring her, Aki rolled her eyes and let herself be pulled around a bend.

The process was repeated one more time, Ryuko carefully mumbling each turn she made out loud as she took them. However, as they turned the final bend… The school building stared them down, as ordinary as ever. Ryuko sighed audibly, slouching down and leaning against one of the flowerbeds outside the school gate. "For real? Is it just smaller than we think it is?"

"Maybe we just imagined it being around here?" Aki offered, fully aware of what a poor suggestion it was- she just didn't have any other idea as to what it could be.

"Who even knows at this point?" Ryuko crossed her arms over her chest. "When I checked on my phone, I didn't see anything like it around here…" As she trailed off, her eyes suddenly lit up with an idea. "Ah- phone! Hey, when we left the castle last time, didn't your phone say something weird? Here, lemme see it!"

Without any ideas of her own, Aki dutifully pulled her phone from her pocket and handed it over to Ryuko, the girl pausing to examine the grey, metal-print protector on the outside. "Hah, didn't expect someone like you to have such a manly phone case. Anyways…" Opening it up and pawing through the screen, she raised an eyebrow. "What's this weird eyeball-lookin' app? There's no name…"

Eyeball… Was that red app back again? Realization dawned over Aki's face as she realized what Ryuko was talking about. "Ah, that just appeared on my phone a couple days before school… I have no idea where it came from, and I can't delete it."

"You can't? Hopefully it's not some virus…" Clicking on it, Ryuko hummed as she watched over the screen. "Is it some kinda navigation app? You've even got a search history in here! It's gotta have something to do with the castle, right? It's too weird not to. We should try using it!"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Aki shrugged. "We can give it a try, but I don't really know how to use it yet."

"Then leave it to me!" Fingers fumbling around the screen a bit, Ryuko's eyes widened as a robotic, feminine voice started to play from the phone. It was just like the one the girls had heard yesterday, this time reading out a list of words.

 _"Kamoshida… Shujin Academy… Pervert… Castle… Beginning navigation."_

"There we go! Something's happening!" Ryuko almost leapt from her position against the flower bed, a burst of energy propelling her forwards and startling the glasses-wearing student. "Okay, then we-"

The blonde's words faded off as Aki's attentions were drawn elsewhere. The world had taken on a strange purple tint, and her head turned to the sky as she watched clouds ripple like water. Looking down at her own hands… she was rippling, too. Judging by the shout of surprise, Ryuko had noticed the change. "W-What the hell? The phone!" Aki redirected her eyes to the screen Ryuko held out, both girls watching as static melted over the red and black eyeball, a red light glowing brighter and brighter… Until the world shifted with it, red and black twists turning the world in front of them from an ordinary school building to a familiar castle.

After a shocked moment of silence, Ryuko managed to get her voice working again. "Look! It's the castle from yesterday!" Running forwards, Aki trailed behind as the blonde halted in front of an imposing door- the same one they'd entered through yesterday. "We made it back… That means everything that happened yesterday was for real, too… Yeargh! Those clothes!"

Confused, Aki looked down at herself as she realized what Ryuko was shouting about. She was dressed in that same black outfit again, every last detail being the same as it previously had been. Bringing a red gloved hand up to her face and hair, she confirmed that she was both wearing a mask and had been liberated from her braids, loose hair curling around her chest. "This happened last time too… I don't know what it's all about."

"I don't get it either." Ryuko sighed, one foot tapping anxiously against the ground. "What's goin' on here?! This makes no fuckin' sense at all.."

"Hey!" A familiar voice to the left drew their attention. Both girls turning their heads, they saw a little cat creature peeking out from beside a turret. Morgana was back with a displeased expression, and her little legs were carrying her over to them- gosh, it felt funny to see something so cartoonish move. "Stop making a commotion! The Shadows started acting up, so I came here wondering what it could be… To think you guys would come back here when you barely managed to escape last time."

"What is this place?" Ryuko ignored Morgana's irritated comments as she pressed for answers. "Is this our school."

"You're right." The cat seemed to get over her displeasure quite fast. "This castle IS the school… But only to this castle's ruler. I think you called him Kamoshida? It's how his distorted heart views the school."

"Kamoshida… distorted…" Ryuko mumbled the words out before shaking her head. "Explain it in a way that makes sense!"

Morgana sighed dramatically. "I shouldn't have expected a moron to get it…"

"What did you say?!" Ryuko barked back, stomping her foot in the cat's direction. Before either of them had time to continue yesterday's bickering, though, a loud scream interrupted them. It was muffled, clearly coming through the castle's walls, but it was no doubt a young woman shrieking out in pain. Ryuko jumped at the sound. "W-What was that?!"

"Most likely the slaves captive here." Morgana responded as another scream broke out. Ryuko's face paled, and Aki could see the lump in her throat as she anxiously swallowed.

"And those other girls held captive here yesterday… I'm pretty sure they're from our school…" A feeling of dread washed over Aki as the blonde spoke- and with the way her face fell, it looked like she felt the same way.

Morgana, on the other hand, didn't seem nearly as frightened- merely sympathetic. "Most likely on Kamoshida's orders. It's nothing out of the ordinary; it's like that every day here. What's more, you two escaped yesterday. He must have lost his temper quite a bit."

"All those girls… that son of a bitch!" Ryuko seethed, hands balling into fists as Morgana offered her a quizzical, somewhat concerned look. "This is bullshit!" Moving with another burst of energy, Ryuko suddenly darted towards the door, ramming her entire body against it as it shook. "You're fucking sick! You hear me, Kamoshida?!"

"Doing that won't open it." Morgana put her hands on her little hips. "I won't pry, but it seems you've got your reasons for trying to get in there…"

Ryuko pushed off from the door, marching back to the group. "Hey, Monamona!"

"It's _Morgana_!"

"Where are those voices comin' from?" Ryuko's voice had calmed somewhat, but it certainly didn't look like she herself had relaxed at all- her fists were still clenched, her gaze still focused.

It didn't deter Morgana, who just seemed incredulous. "You want me to take you to them? If you do, I guess I could guide you there…" She casted a gaze in Aki's direction. "But only if she comes with us." Noticing Aki's hesitant expression, the cat continued. "I want a better look at your powers. Even if you don't agree, I bet this one'll go on even if she has to do it alone. Are you gonna leave her?"

After yesterday, where she'd awoken to that strange power because she was watching Ryuko get the life beat out of her? Not a chance. "Of course not. I'm coming along."

"For real?" Ryuko's face softened ever so slightly. "Thanks, man."

"Alright, let's do this!" Morgana's voice cut in before Aki had a chance to reply. Pointing up at the wall above her, the cat showed off a large hole in the wall: the grate the girls had escaped out last time. "This is our infiltration point. Not barging in through the entrance is one of the basics of phantom thievery." _This cat sure likes her thieves_ , Aki thought as she watched the creature hop up to scurry into the wall. "Both of you, follow me! I'll teach you as we go!"

With little else to do, Aki simply started to climb, Ryuko close behind.

* * *

Morgana certainly knew her way around, which was awfully useful when the creepy hallways and dank prison cells all seemed so identical to Aki. The cat had also been a helpful teacher of sorts, showing her how to ambush enemies ('Shadows', as she called them, which Aki didn't really understand but decided to go along with), pointing out where safe rooms were, and explaining that she called this distorted world a 'Palace'. That struck Aki as important considering the content of last night's dream, but… it could just be a coincidence, and she didn't want the cat's confidence in her to falter because she started babbling about long nosed men and childish prison wardens. Clothes that changed due to her 'will of rebellion' or amnesiac cats that were apparently human beings (if Morgana could be trusted) were also pretty weird, though, so who knew?

In regards to her other companion, despite not having a Persona, Ryuko wasn't useless- she provided Aki with a fake gun (!) and some medicine, almost leading the black haired girl to question where the other student was spending her free time to stumble upon these things. Still, that might be a better question for when they weren't navigating creepy hallways and tearing the masks off Shadows. As the group pressed deeper into the castle, Aki made a mental note to start using her probation diary as a notepad to write down all the questions that kept popping into her head. Even then, how awkward would it be if she forgot to erase them before handing it back to Sojiro? _Dear Diary, today I learned many new things to help me on probation. PS: What's that liquid that comes out when I rip the face off armed guards?_ That would go over disastrously, even if it was kind of funny to think about. Aki's mind kept running over questions as their little group navigated their way through the halls, until a particular pair of Shadows around a corner caused them to pause. Pressing up against the wall, the two human girls pressed up against the wall as the one feline girl poked her head around the corner, ears twitching as the sound of talking filled the air. Morgana lowered her voice to a whisper as she watched. "Shoot… I had a feeling there would be a lot of enemies here. It'd be impossible to dodge all of them."

"Then what do we do?" Ryuko kept her voice down, thankfully- Aki had learned early that she had some trouble regulating her volume when the blonde's loud questioning of Morgana had drawn an unwelcome battle against some vegetable-looking monsters. "Should we try and take 'em down like before?"

"It's not that simple," The cat leaned in further to hear the Shadows better. "We still have a long way to go, so we should be conserving energy. Using Personas can be draining- though I guess it's different for you."

Ryuko sighed, mumbling under her breath. "Yeah… Dammit, I wish I could fight… I'd at least be able to help out a little bit…"

"Hey, you brought medicine and a fake gun. That was helping." Aki chimed in quietly, offering her best smile to Ryuko (noting all the while how strange it felt to emote with her mask on).

Before Ryuko could respond, Morgana's voice broke through. "Right, that fake gun… Well, I think we may have a way to make it useful. We'll use that to take down enemies!"

The blonde girl sputtered. "What?! Do you know what 'fake' means? It doesn't even shoot pellets…" Unfortunately, Ryuko's voice rose naturally this time, and the Shadows around the corner turned their heads curiously, marching in their direction. Ryuko cursed under her breath, but Morgana didn't seem troubled at all.

"Don't worry, I'm sure this'll work. Attack away, Frizzy Hair!" Morgana wiggled her tail, readying to pounce. With no time to correct her on proper name usage, Aki gulped and sprang from her hiding spot, slashing her sword across the Shadow's chest. The sound of the guard dissolving into liquid before transforming drowned out Ryuko's yowls that it wasn't going to fire anything.

"You've got the gun with you, right?" Morgana looked up at her fighting partner as the Shadows twisted into proper form- another strange vegetable creature and a little floating girl. "Point it at a Shadow and fire!" It wasn't like Aki thought this was going to work either, but… Maybe she could at least show the cat this way. Pulling the gun from her coat pocket, the black-haired girl took aim at the floating girl, grimacing before pulling the trigger. She hadn't been expecting the huge bang or the recoil, and she stumbled back in her boots as the gun fired, nearly falling to the ground just as the girlish shadow had done. Morgana seemed amused by her stunned reaction. "Surprised? Make sure you're mindful of how much ammo you have left."

Still shocked, Aki looked down at the gun in her gloved hands before raising it again and properly bracing herself as she fired at the vegetable-looking thing, pulling the trigger several times until the pain in her wrist from the unfamiliar feeling became too uncomfortable, and she withdrew to rub at it. Morgana let out a pleased purr, retrieving something from her toolbelt- this time, a giant slingshot that seemed entirely too big to fit in there. What kind of hammerspace was this thing working with? "Well done! I'll show you my weapon, too." With rapid aim, the cat alternated between targets, firing away repeatedly. Much to Aki's shock, she noticed that the cat's rounds hurt just as much as hers did as both Shadows melted into dust with a wail, finishing the fight.

Ryuko's alarmed squawk broke the newfound silence as she scrambled over to the two combatants. "Wha- Did that toy gun just shoot real freakin' bullets?!" As the pistol was brought up, Aki looked down again to investigate the gun in her hand. It felt like an airsoft gun (not like she'd had any experience handling real guns, but they were supposed to be heavy, right?), and she didn't even think she could insert anything into the magazine well- it didn't even open! Her finger was still resting on the trigger, and she quickly removed it, carefully tucking the pistol back into her jacket's holster- she was suddenly a lot more concerned about her lack of knowledge when it came to gun safety, especially now that she'd be running around with this thing bumping against her ribs.

Morgana spoke up as Aki put her weapon away, her own slingshot having vanished again. "This is a cognitive world. As long as our opponent sees it as real, it becomes such. It's a good thing it's realistic looking."

The blonde tilted her head, eyeing where Aki had tucked the pistol away. "... I don't get it."

Letting out a sound that was a peculiar mixture of a haughty chuckle and a meow, Morgana swished her tail triumphantly. "I wasn't expecting someone with your brains to understand. How about you, Frizzy Hair? Did you get what I said?"

Though she would have really liked it if Morgana could start using her real name, Aki didn't find the matter urgent enough to correct the cat. "I think I get the gist of it."

Ryuko looked as if she was going to respond to that, but the widening of her eyes indicated that she'd thought of something. Turning to Morgana, she shot the creature a questioning glare. "Wait, if it's better havin' something realistic, why do you have that slingshot?! It was just as strong as a goddamn gun! What about your whole cognitive whatever?!"

Come to think of it, Aki had been wondering the same thing. She turned to face Morgana quizzically, leaving two pairs of eyes focused on the (suddenly anxious) cat. "W-Well, um… Just understand it however you want! It doesn't matter right now!" Clearing her throat, Morgana regained her composure, turning to face Aki. "Moving on, we should decide how we divvy up roles in battle from here on out. As you can see, there's a lot of enemies. We should coordinate our moves as well. I can provide intel, and you can decide how we fight."

"You dodged my question just there!" Ryuko sighed, rolling her eyes as she stuffed her hands in her jacket pockets. "And whaddya mean by 'how we fight'?"

"Yeesh, you're not even fighting! It means Frizzy Hair should give orders in battle!" Morgana swished her tail again. "I need to be focused on providing information on enemies, so it'll be easier if she gives commands based off that intel."

"You think I can do that?" Aki cut in, suddenly a little nervous. She always felt confident with Arsene by her side, and yet… The idea of leading while she was still getting acquainted with her powers was pretty daunting.

"You'll do fine," The cat nodded. "Worst comes to worst, I'll make my own choices. Now, we shouldn't stay here for too long! We don't want to get caught by Shadows. I'll tell you more on this stuff while we travel, okay?"

No use arguing about that. With a nod of her own, Aki set off, Ryuko pacing beside her as Morgana charged on ahead. She was a lot more conscious of the feeling the gun had as it brushed against her side with each movement...

* * *

Morgana had filled her in on a bit more as she moved- mostly just skill names to call out during battle. Eiha, Garu, Dia, Cleave… And if the cat was to be believed, there were a ton more out there! Aki devoted herself to repeating those four over and over in her head, knowing how much easier battles would be when she could call out actual orders for both Arsene and Morgana. It's not like she'd be doing this long enough to find all those weird skills, right? This was a one-time thing. The few battles they'd encountered on their way didn't go too badly- with Morgana informing her of weaknesses and resistances, all she had to do was call out a skill or for an attack. Not to mention, one particular fight lead to a lesson on All-Out Attacks, which were admittedly pretty fun to do. Even Ryuko had gushed about how 'freakin' badass' that had looked from her perspective. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad?

Luckily, they didn't have to fight too much before reaching their intended location. If Morgana's declaration that they'd arrived and the giant banner declaring 'Kamoshida's Training Hall of Love' hadn't tipped the girls off, the sound of pained screaming from the inside definitely would have. The screaming instinctively made Aki flinch, but it only seemed to anger Ryuko, who's face darkened as she read the banner. "What kinda bullshit is this? We gotta check it out…"

They'd come all this way to find this place- Aki couldn't get cold feet and bail on Ryuko now. Steeling herself, she headed forwards, opening the large metal door. Navigating through a small hallway, the screaming only grew louder as the party cautiously approached. The blonde girl was the first to notice the source, darting forwards to peer through a metal fence. Aki and Morgana followed, scooting up next to her and looking down. They were standing over a large gymnasium with a volleyball net set up, a row of girls in sports uniforms lined up to face it. Shadows behind them were whipping the players with… some sort of stick, ignoring their pained cries and pleas for it to end. Aki felt her stomach drop, and Ryuko snarled, banging one on the fence. "Dammit! This is bullshit!"

"How many times do I have to tell you to keep your voice down?" Morgana spoke quietly, but with no small amount of anger. "You'll draw the Shadows our way!"

Ryuko bit her lip, looking down and making a whining noise as she watched the girls be beat. "But this is beyond messed up! Look what they're doing- how do I get down there?"

The loud girl's search for a way to get in was stopped by a small plea. "Stop it…!" Three pairs of eyes turned in sync to where the voice seemed to be coming from. A small catwalk of sorts was on the other side of the fence, allowing for someone to walk at the same level as the girls- and walk someone did. A girl in one of those red sports uniforms, battered, bandaged, and cradling one arm hobbled by, pausing to look at them. "Leave us alone… It's useless…"

Another girl, similarly injured but just as hopeless looking, approached behind her, ducking her head down. "If we stay obedient, we won't be executed like you guys… It's our own faults for ending up this way… We could have been queens, but..."

Aki had no idea what they meant, and neither did Ryuko, judging by her sharp snarl. "Your own faults?! Queens- what the fuck are you talkin' about?! And you're tellin' me you wanna stay in a place like this?!"

Morgana's voice prevented any sort of reply, the cat looking up at Ryuko questioningly. "Wait a minute… Were you planning on taking these girls out of here?"

"Of course!" Ryuko snapped, turning around as the two hurt girls meekly wandered past. "I mean, we can't just leave 'em here!"

The cat sighed, shaking her head and putting her paws on her hips. "These are only humans in Kamoshida's cognition. They aren't real humans that have entered from reality. They're different from you two. There's no point in saving them- they're not the real ones in the real world! You could say that these are… extremely similar looking dolls."

"The hell? Why's it gotta be so complicated?!" Ryuko mimicked Morgana's pose unintentionally, putting her hands on her own hips. "So the schools a castle, and the students are slaves… It's so on point that it makes me laugh." Despite what she said, the blonde wasn't laughing. There was nothing but anger in her voice and a growing darkness over her face. "This really is the inside of that pervert's head…!"

Shifting to get a better look, Morgana sighed as she looked down on the students. "Still, this is horrible… It must mean he treats them as slaves in the real world, too."

"That I knew for sure…" Ryuko grumbled, turning back to look down at the gruesome scene. There was a moment of silence before her eyes widened. "W-Wait just a second… I know these girls! They're members of the volleyball team- the one Kamoshida coaches! Don't tell me… They're going through similar shit in reality?!"

"Most likely." There was sympathy in Morgana's voice as she looked up at Ryuko. "Most likely. I mean, this proves that Kamoshida thinks of them as slaves. And then there was that thing about queens, too, but…"

As she trailed off, Ryuko picked up. "I knew too fuckin' well that Kamoshida's not above abusing athletes, but if it's getting bad enough that he thinks of them like this… Wouldn't this be something to report to the police?" Aki wanted to comment on that particularly worrisome statement at the start of her sentence, but the blonde wasn't done talking, pulling out her cellphone and holding it up. "I'll use these guys as evidence. If it all goes well, we can take down that asshole!"

"That's a good idea, Ryuko." Aki nodded, feeling a bit bad for having stayed quiet during such an awful discovery. She was new at Shujin, though, with no prior exposure to Kamoshida up until yesterday- what was there for her to add? She watched as Ryuko's brow furrowed as she looked at her phone.

"... Huh? It's not workin'?!" She shook the little piece of technology as if that would fix anything. "We can use the navigation app, but the camera's a no-go?! Aki, try yours!"

Pulling her phone from her coat pocket, Aki opened it and attempted to pull up her camera- no easy feat with gloves. But Ryuko seemed to have been entirely correct, as every attempt at opening the app lead to failure. "Mine isn't working either. Can we just not take photographs here…?"

Her question remained unanswered as Morgana released a nervous meowing sound, looking from side to side. "You can figure it out later! We're gonna get caught if we stand around like this. We need to head back!"

"Just hang on a sec!" Ryuko turned to the bars, pressing herself as close as she could get. "If there's no other way…. I'll just memorize their faces before goin' home!"

* * *

And so she had. The trio had wandered down the hallway, Aki flinching away from each scene presented to her. Girls running on spiked tracks chasing water, students tied up and being pounded with volleyballs… It was enough to make Aki feel that growing hatred for Kamoshida that Ryuko had obviously held for a while now. The blonde seemed just as troubled by this, but diligently dedicated herself to memorizing each and every face. What exactly was her beef with Kamoshida, anyways…? Obviously everyone in the group had a problem with him after seeing this, but judging by her words, the boisterous girl had obviously had some sort of issue with the coach before everything that they'd seen here. Aki's curiosity was strong, but she willed herself not to ask quite yet. If Ryuko wanted to share, she'd share. In the meantime, Morgana was getting anxious, meaning it was time for them to scram.

Running out of the room, Aki couldn't help but feel relieved as they left the gruesome scene. Even so, a fire burned in her chest for those poor girls… She could turn her head away, but if this was happening in real life, those athletes couldn't escape it like she could. She reassured herself with the internal promise to save them as the party navigated through the garish castle. Having Morgana around was awfully helpful, considering that they'd basically be wandering blind without her. Seeing the main hall was a relief, Aki audibly sighing as she realized how close they were to escape. However, fate wasn't going to make it that easy. As soon as they ran on in, they realized they weren't alone- far too late, as well. Kamoshida and several of his knights stood on the other side of the room, turning at the sound of their footsteps. Aki's blood ran cold as the man's golden gaze focused in on them, eyes narrowing. "You knaves again?" He snapped as he marched in their direction, the Shadows dutifully following him. "To think you'd make the same mistake again. You're hopeless!"

Aki had her hand on her mask in a flash, prepared to fight if they had to. However, someone else was taking action first- Ryuko, marching forwards and glaring Kamoshida down. "This school ain't your castle! We saw all those girls back there, and I've memorized their faces real good. You're goin' down!"

Despite the electricity in her voice, Kamoshida didn't seem threatened in the least. He spoke with a hint of amusement laced in with his words. "Ryuko Sakamoto, hotheaded as always. How far the star runner of the track team has fallen."

Track team… Shujin didn't have a track team, did they? Aki had absentmindedly checked the list of clubs on the school website before coming to Tokyo, and saw nothing of the sort listed. Ryuko seemed to know exactly what the speedo-wearing man was talking about, though, and her face hardened. "What the hell are you gettin' at?!"

Kamoshida chuckled as if all of this was a joke to him. "I speak of the 'Track Traitor' who acted in violence, ending her teammates' dreams. Oh, I can only imagine the pain of the others who were dragged under with your… selfish act."

"Wait, 'Track Traitor'?" What kind of nickname was that? And more importantly, violence…? Aki found herself turning to Ryuko directly to ask, but it was Kamoshida who answered.

"Hah, what a surprise! So you're accompanying her without knowing anything at all?" The man offered Aki a humoured glance. Though he kept talking to her, it was Ryuko he turned to face, as if he wanted to watch her reaction. "She betrayed her teammates and crushed their hopes, yet she still carries on as carefree as ever."

"That's not true!" Ryuko cut in, panic laced in with her anger. Kamoshida laughed, and Aki wanted to wipe the smile right off his face. Maybe if Morgana was ready, they could go right for him…?

Kamoshida replied before any decisions could be made. "You've come along with this fool and are going to wind up dead… How unlucky of you." He turned his back, leaning over his shoulder to face the guards. "Go. Kill them all. Don't sully my castle with garbage." In a flash, the Shadows had transformed, the sickening squelch echoing through the enormous hallway as they morphed into several indigo horses, red eyes and green horns shining in the candlelight. Morgana leapt forwards in front of Ryuko, grabbing her sword. Aki didn't need to be told to follow her, grabbing her own knife from her coat.

It was a one-sided battle. Both of them had given it their all, but the enemies had the advantage both in numbers and in the way they'd surrounded the Persona users. No matter how much force Aki swung her blade with, no matter how much effort Morgana put into winding them with Garu, these were a set of foes they couldn't defeat. With a cry, Aki fell to the ground, head smacking off the floor. Stars flashed behind her eyes, hitting her with a dizziness so powerful she thought she might retch right there on the carpet (and given how disgustingly tacky the thing was, maybe that would improve it). By the time she got her bearings and realized what was happening, she was under the foot of a Shadow, the weight shoving her down. She heard Morgana curse, and she raised her head to watch Kamoshida's foot push the cat to the floor. "Rgh… You piece of-"

The yellow-eyed man cut the cat off, instead turning his head upwards and forwards. Following his gaze, Aki realized he was staring right at Ryuko, who had fallen on her knees and was staring forth at the situation in fear. "I bet you simply came here on a whim and ended up like this. Isn't that right?"

Aki and Ryuko locked wide-eyed gazes for a moment as they realized the man was right. How stupid had they been to rush into something so dangerous…?! Even so, Ryuko shook her head, quietly whispering a response. "No…" It almost hurt hearing the blonde get so quiet- she was always so loud and fiery, and seeing her so helpless caused Aki's stomach to twist.

Kamoshida scoffed. "What a worthless piece of trash, getting emotional so quickly. How dare you raise your hand at me? And after I gave you such a kind offer, too. Though it was only temporary, have you forgotten my kindness in supervising track practice?"

Aki was still dizzy, trying to put the pieces of what he was saying together with what she already knew about the other girl's situation, but Ryuko's upper body crumpling as she shot her hands to the floor, head touching the carpet, indicated that the blonde knew exactly what he meant. "It wasn't no practice- it was abuse! You just didn't like our team!"

Rolling his eyes, Kamoshida ground his foot down on Morgana, who yowled helplessly. "It was nothing but an eyesore! The only one who needs to achieve results is me! That coach who got fired was hopeless too. Had he not opposed me with a sound argument, I would have settled it with only destroying his star's reputation, but I had to break her leg to get the point across."

A pregnant silence fell over the room, the only sound being the clinking of the guard's armour as he hovered over Aki. Breaking her leg… Had Kamoshida actually…? Ryuko's stunned reaction, the girl still as a statue, only cemented that that was the truth for Aki. The blonde found her voice, though it cracked as she spoke. "What…?"

Kamoshida seemed to find the whole situation hilarious, chuckling as he watched Ryuko get paler by the moment. "Do you need me to deal with your other leg too? The school will call it self-defense against some crazed tramp anyways!"

Each harsh word only seemed to break Ryuko further, the girl leaning further and further downwards as if she was trying to become as small as possible. "N-No… Am I gonna lose again…? Not only can I not run anymore… The track team is gone… And my reputation is tanked 'cause of this asshole…!"

"So that's why…" Morgana spoke quietly, and it's as if she was reading Aki's mind. The reason Ryuko had hated Kamoshida so much is because he'd destroyed her reputation and broken her leg… Suddenly, her comments back then confirming that she knew Kamoshida physically abused his students made a terrifying amount of sense.

The mockery of a king dug his foot even harder into Morgana's back, and the cat writhed under him. "Once these two are dealt with, maybe I can finally convince you to repay me for letting those track team brats go unharmed. Maybe if you play nice, I'll make sure not to drag your death out afterwards."

That was absolutely enough. This piece of shit… Mustering up all her strength, Aki let out a shout that surprised even herself. "Ryuko! Don't let him win!"

For a moment, there was silence. But Ryuko's previously still form started to shift, her head rising from the floor. "... You're right." Pushing herself up, shaking arms moved her up to her knees. "Everything that was important to me was taken by him… I'll never get 'em back…!"

"Stay there and watch." Kamoshida laughed. "Look on as these hopeless scum die for nothing because they sided with a whore like you." Despite everything he said, Ryuko wasn't stopping. Slowly, she rose from her knees to her feet. Though her legs wobbled like a baby deer taking a first step, she stayed strong, lightning crackling behind her eyes- she had yet to be taken out.

"No… That's what you made them all think… You piece of shit…" Her voice shook, but there was courage in it. "All you think about is using people… You're nothing but a scumbag, Kamoshida!" Slowly, sneaker clad feet started to move, Ryuko shakily walking towards the king and his guards. The man narrowed his eyes.

"What are you doing? Silence her!" He barked at his guards. Before they had time to react, though, Ryuko pointed a finger at the false king. That lighting behind her eyes had been a metaphor before, but now Aki swore she could see something flashing in jagged spurts behind brown eyes. Was she imagining that? Ryuko's face darkened, the lightning growing only brighter.

"Stop lookin' down on me with that STUPID SMILE ON YOUR FACE!"

And just like that, the lightning struck.

* * *

 _You made me wait quite a while._

Another voice entered Aki's mind. It was like what had happened with Arsene, yet it wasn't his. Judging by Morgana's expression, she could hear it too. The black-haired girl turned to see if Ryuko could hear it- just in time to watch the blonde's pupils dilate, her eyes turning bright gold. The girl choked on air, reaching up to grab her head, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. "A-Aaagh…!"

The girl fell to her knees, but the voice only continued, echoing not as if it was an outside force, but as if it was playing directly into Aki's mind. _You seek power, correct? Then let us form a pact. Since your name has been disgraced already, why not hoist the flag and wreak havoc…?_

Falling from her knees to her stomach, Ryuko wailed out, one hand on her head and the other pounding repeatedly onto the carpet, her body twitching and thrashing. The voice, the pain, the talk of a pact… Could Ryuko be… Aki silenced her own mind as the voice spoke. _The "other you" who exists within desires it thus…_ Rolling onto her back, the blonde girl's agonized screaming would have made the hair on Aki's neck stand up if a strange calm hadn't washed over her body, relaxing her and allowing her to focus on the smooth voice. _I am thou, thou art I… There is no turning back… The skull of rebellion is your flag henceforth!_

Ryuko's writhing had brought her back onto her hands and knees, and for a moment, her head hangs down just as it had as Kamoshida had taunted her. But this time, it rises- and when she looked at Kamoshida back then, she certainly hadn't been radiating such an aura of strength. Yellow eyes, hidden behind a grey skull mask, were almost glowing with power. Aki barely heard the guard behind her scoff. "What can you do? Cower in fear and watch!"

There was the sound of a sword being unsheathed, but that calm hadn't left the black haired girl. She was going to escape this scenario, something whispered to her, she was about to meet a new ally. Instead of bothering with the guard, she focused her eyes on Ryuko, the girl stumbling to her feet and grasping at the mask. Fingers yanking at the corners, she gasped as she tugged, and the sound of something starting to tear filled the room. With one yank of her arms and a scream so powerful that Aki wondered if it, not the burst of wind, was what just knocked the guard pinning her down back, Ryuko ripped the mask from her face, flesh tearing and blood spurting as she was engulfed in blue flame, disappearing into the explosion.

When she became visible again, something hovered above her head. A skeletal pirate, red cape and blue shirt stretched over bones, stood guard over her. With one hand replaced by a canon, tall pirate hat and intimidating grin, he would have seemed frightening on his own. His height was only increased when Aki realized he stood atop a pirate ship of his own, dark wood and broken netting, yet it floated as if it was good as new. The devilish smile painted at the head of the ship matched the one Ryuko herself offered as she looked up, surrounded by flue flame.

The girl's tacky shirt was no more, replaced by a smooth fitted black jacket with metal siding and a popped collar. A large red ascot was tied from her neck, flowing in the sudden wind brought out by her transformation. Black zippered sleeves were complimented by elbow pads and a pair of yellow gloves. Ammo belts, shotgun shells tucked in while they waited to be used, hung loosely from her hips. Tight black pants covered muscular legs, grey knee pads gleaming in the sudden light. Just below them were a pair of mid-calf leather combat boots, pants tucked into the tops. They were spotless, gleaming, and just waiting to be sullied with dust from Shadows. Ryuko's gleeful grin topped the look off, and even the black bow replacing her scrunchie might have been a touch feminine for someone like her, the maniacally grinning jolly roger that sat in the center of it somehow matched its owner perfectly. Ryuko held up her hands, smiling even brighter as she investigated her gloves. "Right on… Wassup, Persona? This fuckin' rocks!"

With the guard stepping on her back gone, Aki rose to her feet. A quick glance at Morgana proved that Kamoshida had stepped back as well, meaning both of them were free to fight. Turning, they faced the guards, Aki noting that the newly awakened Ryuko was standing in the center- fitting that she'd take center stage this time around. The blonde girl grinned, cracking her knuckles as she eyed up the Shadows. "Now that I got this power, it's time for payback. I'm ready, so bring it!"

The guard looked taken aback before making a guttural snarling noise, raising his sword. "Ngh… Don't mock me, you brat!" Slamming the weapon against the ground, he melted down before being reborn into a heavily armoured knight atop an indigo horse.

Ryuko only grinned as she watched the Shadow ready for battle, pointing forwards as the crackle of electricity ran through the Persona behind her. "Blast him away! Captain Kidd!" And so, the battle had begun.

The knightly Shadow's horse reared up, the Shadow itself growling out. "What troublemakers that bother King Kamoshida with trifle matters!"

"Kamoshida's cognition ain't changin' right?" Ryuko spared a glance in the direction of both Aki and Morgana. "Then I'll act like the troublemaker I am! Let's do this, Captain Kidd!" So that was the name of her Persona, was it? Interesting… Facing forwards, Aki drew her knife, prepared to fight with one new comrade.

The battle itself was easy with a new fighter on their side. Captain Kidd used electricity- 'Zio!', Morgana had called out in excitement when she saw the blonde use it, so there was one more skill name to remember- and Ryuko's awakening had apparently gifted her with a metal pipe. Not the flashiest of weapons, but Aki silently noted how that didn't matter as she watched Ryuko smack the legs out from under the horse. With several hits from both students and Morgana (as well as a few careful dodges from the feline as the Shadow charged her), the guard captain had fallen as Ryuko laid one final blow over its head. As it vanished, that left one last foe in the main hallway- Kamoshida.

The boisterous girl was still recovering from the strain of her first battle, but even as the adrenaline died down and she bent over to catch her breath, she managed to look up at Kamoshida, grinning victoriously in his direction. "How 'bout that!? Not so fuckin' tough now, you creep! Even if you apologize now, I ain't forgivin' you!"

The mockery of a king merely glowered at her, stepping forwards. "I told you that this is my castle. It seems you still don't understand…" Looking to his right, the man nodded. As if on cue, a girl walked forwards. Blonde, fluffy pigtails, big blue eyes… And an extremely revealing pink bikini. Aki was so stunned by the girl's outfit that it took her a second to realize that she'd seen this girl before, albeit in a uniform and without any peculiar cat ear crown.

Ryuko noticed at about the same time, sputtering in surprise. "Wh- Takamaki?!" That was her name- the blonde girl Aki had seen get into Kamoshida's car, and who now sat in front of her during class.

Aki didn't have any time to ask questions or give dumbfounded looks, however, as a sudden gasp from the cat next to her drew her attention. Morgana was staring straight ahead, tail flickering. "Oh..! What a meow-velous and beautiful girl…!"

"Wha- Wait, why didn't we get that reaction…?" Furrowing her brow down at the cat, there was a beat before Aki realized how maybe what type of girls drew Morgana's attention shouldn't be her top priority- especially with the way Takamaki was now draping her arms around Kamoshida. "No, wait… Something isn't right here." Hadn't this girl been avoiding the teacher like the plague? Aki had seen her pitiful excuses in the hallway, after all. This couldn't be right…

"Now that you mention it…" Ryuko narrowed her eyes. "But why is she even here?" Her confusion turned to disgust as Kamoshida turned to Takamaki, extending a hand to caress her face much like he'd done to the boisterous student the other day before beating the daylights out of her. The newly-awakened Persona user made a gagging sound. "Hey! Let go of her, you pervert!"

"How many times must I tell you until you understand?" Kamoshida turned to Ryuko, smiling in a way that made Aki want to retch. "This is MY castle- a place in which I can do whatever I want. Everyone wishes to be loved by me… Including you."

"What the hell do you mean?" Ryuko snarled, grip on the pipe her awakening had granted her only tightening. Morgana looked ready to jump in and keep her from fighting Kamoshida if she had to, and Aki kept an eye on her just in case she did anything rash.

The man laughed, continuing to stroke Takamaki's chin. "Oh, you'll see soon enough. You may not want to say it, but I know you want me to treat you just like this."

"Not a chance in hell, you pathetic scumbag! Takamaki, say something, dammit! Tell him to take that ugly fuckin' crown and shove it straight up his-" Aki had an idea as to where Ryuko was going with that, but (un?)fortunately, Morgana cut her off, ending her tirade.

"Ryuko! Don't let him provoke you! That girl seems like it's not the real one." The cat waved a paw in the direction of the king and the bikini-clad girl. "She's the same as those slaves- a being made from Kamoshida's cognition of her!" The distinct sound of armoured boots banging against the floor filled the air, and Morgana's ears twitched. "That sounds like a lot… We're going to be outnumbered if we stay here! Let's scram before we get surrounded!"

Ryuko pulled her eyes away from the scene in front of her to stare in surprise at the cat. "We're not gonna do anything about this?!"

"We can't right now, Ryuko." Aki cut in, growing anxious as the sound of footsteps grew louder. She wished she could have the sense of calm that washed over her during Ryuko's awakening around all the time- it would make dealing with the nonsense in this castle a lot easier. "You're exhausted, I can tell."

It was true. Despite the energy in the blonde girl's face, gaining a Persona had drained her. She was obviously breathing hard, and Aki could see the sweat beading on her face, dripping from under her skull mask. Ryuko was in no condition to fight, and it seemed even she knew that, sighing and shifting on her feet. "Ngh… Fine." She gave one last glare in Kamoshida's direction. "We'll expose what you really are, no matter what! You better be ready for us…!"

The caped man laughed, the noise echoing through the grand hall. "Hahaha! I was beginning to get bored of playing with the girls here. Come at me whenever you want- I'll show you exactly what it means to go against me!"

"Just ignore him." Morgana turned her back, and Aki suddenly became aware of how close the armoured footsteps were getting. "We need to go!" The cat darted off towards the exit point, both girls following closely behind.

* * *

Safe outside the castle walls, everyone's adrenaline rush finally subsided. The relative safety seemingly meant their bodies had decided it was time to let that exhaustion fully catch up with them. Aki felt like she had just done the beep test in a pair of red booties and a trenchcoat, and she rested her hands on her hips as her chest heaved, trying to catch her breath and ignore her aching body. Ryuko was leaning over, hands on her kneepads, audibly panting. Morgana, for her part, had laid face down on the bricked ground and was letting out a small meowing noise. The peculiarity of the cat trying to recover only made Aki chuckle, which in turn made it even harder to catch her breath fully. Ryuko was the first to speak, straightening her back and pushing back a piece of hair that had fallen over one masked eye. "Geez, what a workout… Anyways, I don't remember changing into this!"

Aki paused to look Ryuko over, taking in her tough-looking outfit. The metal pieces on the back looked like the vertebra of a spine- she really did have a skeletal motif. "It's pretty cool, though. It looks good on you!"

"Wh- should I be happy about that?" Ryuko looked off to the side, reaching back to scratch her neck. Aki pondered what she meant by that as the blonde girl turned to face her, looking her up and down. "Then again, I guess yours is kinda cool too. Why did we get these weird outfits, though?"

"I told you before." Morgana scolded, pushing herself off from the ground and dusting herself off. "When a Persona-user opposes a Palace's ruler and becomes a threat to them, this happens. It's to prevent you from being affected by distortions. And like I said in the safe room before you awakened, your appearance reflects your inner self. It's the rebel that slumbers within… Not that I expect you to get it."

Ryuko huffed, crossing her arms. "... Yeah, I'm a lil' lost. Whatever." After a moment of silence, her closed eyes shot open, wide as dinner plates as she gasped. "Wait! We're in deep, deep shit! We might've gotten away here, but we're still screwed with Kamoshida at the real school…!"

Morgana flicked her tail, her catlike smile widening. "That's quite sharp of you… for being an idiot. Just relax. The Kamoshida in reality can't possibly know about what happens here. A Shadow is the true self that is suppressed- a side of one's personality that they don't want to see."

It looked like the cogs in Ryuko's mind were slowly turning, but as Aki watched the blonde squint, it looks like she gave up on understanding and shut the operation down about halfway through. "... Basically, we're okay?"

"Did the Kamoshida in reality remember about the execution?" Morgana crossed her arms, watching as Ryuko's eyes widened. "And there you have it. Now, I guided you as promised. Now it's your turn to cooperate with me."

Both girls looked down at the cat in surprise, confusion dawning over both their faces. Aki was the first one to speak. "Um, cooperate…?"

"Don't you remember?" Morgana's ears twitched. "I originally came here for an investigation. I need to erase the distortion from my body and regain my real form! So that's why we must dive deep into Mementos and-"

Ryuko cut her off, tilting her head. "Woah, woah, hold the phone. What're you goin' on and on about? Mementos? Divin'? We never said anything about helpin' you out."

The cat's eyes grew wide. "Huh? Don't tell me… Are you not going to repay the hospitality I showed you?" She turned to Aki, waving her paws. "Especially you! You're going to up and leave, even though you're already part of my master plan!?"

Aki's confused expression morphed into a small smile as she watched the cat fret. Maybe she could mess with her a little bit… "We didn't promise anything. Besides, who's to say we aren't a little hurt over you not fawning over us like you did over that Takamaki clone? Maybe we don't want to help you because we feel insulted."

She had to restrain herself from laughing as Morgana helplessly jumped up and down in distress, and from the way Ryuko all but stuffed her hand in her mouth, she was having a hard time not bursting into snickers. "Wha- wait, that's why?! Um, yes! You're cute too! Both of you look very nice! Now, help with my plan!"

Ryuko finally lost her composure, letting out a laugh as she squatted down to pet the flustered feline on the top of her head. "We can't, we're busy. But thanks for everything, Monamona. You've got guts for being a cat and all!" Straightening up, the blonde offered Aki a nod. Nodding back, the black-haired girl started off towards the castle's exit, Ryuko following closely behind. They could hear Morgana yowling as they ran.

"Oh hell no! Don't wrap it up like it's all hunky-dory! Get back here!" The cat's yelling, however, didn't stop the duo in motion as the world started shifting around them.

* * *

When reality came back to a more familiar state and that digitized voice welcomed them back, Aki realized she was in an alley- the same one she and Ryuko had originally used to get here. She felt dizzy from the sudden shift, and the exhaustion from the battle hadn't gone away yet. Leaning against a wall to catch her breath, her eyes shifted over to see Ryuko, hands on her knees as she panted. The blonde girl was back in her school uniform just like Aki was, her schoolbag tossed haphazardly on the ground behind her as she got herself together. Shaking her head and straightening up, Ryuko offered the other girl a tired smile. "Thank god we're back. I'm dead tired… How're you holding up?"

"To be frank, exhausted." Aki chuckled sheepishly, reaching back to rub the back of her neck. "That got really intense."

"You did a good job not showin' it back there, though." The boisterous girl stuck her hands in her blazer pockets. "Damn, if what we saw was for real, this is gonna get good! I remember all the faces of the girls Kamoshida was treatin' like slaves. We'll just get 'em to fess up to the abuse, and that asshole is done for!" Even through her exhaustion, Ryuko was obviously ecstatic at the idea of revealing Kamoshida's true colours. "So, d'ya wanna help me look for those girls or any other witnesses?"

Ryuko's energy was infectious, Aki noted with a smile. "Of course I'll help. I couldn't just walk away after all of that, right?"

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" The blonde girl pumped her fist excitedly, even if her body's exhausted state meant it wasn't the most over-the-top motion. "And to get a little more serious… If you're thinkin' of layin' low 'cause you got a record, I don't think that'll help… Everyone already knows, and they totally got you pegged as a criminal."

"I heard a lot of the whispers, yeah…" Aki's smile dissipated as she remembered the cold treatment she'd been getting from her schoolmates. "It was supposed to be private from the students, so I don't know how they figured that out."

"Oh, I know exactly how." Ryuko's face darkened, and she crossed her arms across her chest.

"You do?" Any answers about her situation would be useful right now. "Then how did it happen?"

"Kamoshida opened his damn mouth!" The blonde girl spat his name out like she was spitting out rotten food. "No one besides a teacher could have had that information and leaked it so fast! I mean, they knew your damn face! Besides, I know too damn well that that creep's not above spreading rumours around the student body, even fake ones. It doesn't matter if it's a club or some random girl; he just wrecks things he doesn't agree with. Just like he did to me…"

Aki pursed her lips, a mixture of sympathy and anger for Ryuko running through her. She'd heard a lot of troubling things from the twisted teacher in the castle, yes, but that may not have been the full story. Just how badly had this poor girl's life been screwed up because of Kamoshida? "Ryuko…"

"No one takes anything I say seriously. They just think I'm some sleazy idiot with a screw loose because of all the shit he said about me. I tried to tell people he was a pervert, but nobody'd take my word for it." Ryuko's voice got a bit quieter, and that look of sadness that flashed by like lightning… Aki's heart ached seeing it. "And if what we saw today is anythin' to go by, he's getting even more physically violent than I remembered. I can't just sit back and let him do whatever the fuck he wants."

"You're right. We absolutely have to expose him for who he is." Despite not knowing the blonde all that well, something felt… different about her. There was a bond of trust that always came with sharing difficult stories, yes, but Ryuko just felt… like she clicked with Aki. A gentle voice in the back of her mind suddenly started to speak, and Aki's eyes widened as it grew loud enough that she'd think the source was standing right behind her if she wasn't up against a wall.

 _I am thou, thou art I… Thou has acquired a new vow._

 _It shall become the wings of rebellion that breaketh thy chains of captivity…_

 _With the birth of the Chariot Persona, I have obtained the wings of blessing that shall lead to freedom and new power…_

* * *

The interrogation room was dark, but the dimmed fluorescent lights lining the walls managed to hurt Aki's sore eyes anyways. Sae didn't seem like she was all too bothered by the way the girls eyes closed to escape them, her questioning not ceasing.

"Acting as a Phantom Thief would have been more efficient alone. You could have gone about it that way… However, you did not. You decided that there are merits to having associates."

Aki opened her eyes to find the grey haired woman leaning in, gaze unflinching and determined as she stared the bruised girl down. "Am I wrong?"

* * *

The voice had left just as quickly as it had arrived, and Aki's body somehow felt… different. Like she was stronger- not physically stronger, exactly, but as if her heart had grown more durable. It was difficult to understand, much less put into words, but it all felt like it was meant to be as she looked at Ryuko's newly determined face. "Yeah, let's take him down!" There was an interruption in the form of the blonde girl's stomach, which rumbled loudly. The girl looked surprised before realization dawned over her. "Oh, right. I haven't eaten anything since lunch. It'd be weird splittin' off now, so why don't we grab a bite somewhere?"

Aki was tired, that much was true, but Ryuko was right- it would feel wrong to go their separate ways right now, and besides, she was hungry too! There'd been no tasty breakfast curry for her this time around, after all. "Sounds good to me. Where do you wanna go?"

"Hm… Oh! Let's get some beef bowls!" The blonde girl smiled as she made her choice, nodding contentedly to herself as she turned to pick up her bag from the ground. "Just follow me. And I wanna hear about your past, too!"

Of course she did. Rolling her eyes, Aki followed Ryuko out of the alley and into the light.

* * *

"WHAT!?"

Ryuko's shout had visibly disturbed other patrons, and Aki winced at the sudden attention drawn their way. She'd just finished explaining the story of how she'd wound up in Tokyo to the blonde girl, who was apparently outraged at her situation. While the transfer student appreciated the sentiment, she kind of wanted to enjoy her natto bowl in peace. "I'm still eating here, you know…"

"Oh, my bad." Ryuko offered an apologetic glance before taking a bite from her own barbeque bowl, talking even as she chewed. "Still, how shitty can that guy get? So…" She paused to swallow. "You left your hometown and you're livin' here now, huh?"

"You got it. Kinda nice to be out of Inaba, but I really wish it was under different circumstances…" Aki sighed, taking a bite from her own meal. Things were already more exciting here than they were at home, that was true (maybe with the exception of the panic surrounding that serial murder incident all those years ago), but being treated like garbage by nearly everyone she met wasn't worth it.

Ryuko stopped eating for a moment, putting her chopsticks down and humming thoughtfully. "You know, you and I might be more alike than I originally thought. I mean, not exactly alike- I was born and raised here- but… y'know. I guess it's how we're treated like a pain in the ass by the people around us, like we don't belong. Like they just wish we'd disappear. I… did something pretty stupid at school before, too."

"I see where you're coming from, yeah." Aki opened her mouth to ask for elaboration on what Ryuko did, but quickly closed it again as she determined that it was none of her business- the blonde would tell her if she wanted to, and she didn't want to accidentally push away someone she'd felt such a peculiar bond with.

The blonde nodded, picking up her bowl again and gobbling up the last bits of food. Could this girl ever eat... ! Ryuko put her emptied bowl down with a 'clink' and a satisfied sigh, eyes drifting over to Aki's mostly-full meal. "Eh? You barely touched your food, man. Eat up, you need protein to get strong!" She offered a playful grin in Aki's direction, and the glasses-wearing girl returned it.

"Better get ripped to take down that creep, right?" She extended one arm, flexing in an exaggerated manner. Ryuko laughed, once again drawing the attention of the other patrons around her. This time, Aki didn't mind so much- it was pretty nice to have someone to laugh with, even if she was a bit too loud for her tastes.

"Hell yeah! We've got each others' backs from tomorrow on, okay? As long as do something about Kamoshida, I'm sure we'll both feel better about bein' at school." There was a pause before Ryuko's eyes lit up with an idea, the girl reaching into her schoolbag to grab her phone. "Oh, right! Tell me your number. Chat ID too. We gotta keep in touch to plan this."

Aki nodded, reaching into her own bag to take her cellphone out. Once IDs and numbers were exchanged, Ryuko nodded triumphantly as she tucked her phone back. "Just you wait, Kamoshida. We're gonna start right away tomorrow. First, let's hit up those girls that were kept as slaves. We can do it at lunch hour together, so we can walk around freely and talk to people. We'll work out the details tomorrow."

"Sounds good to me." Looking down at her bowl, Aki realized there was a whole lot of food still left that she didn't think she'd get through. "Hey, Ryuko, do you want some of mine? I'm getting full."

"No way in hell am I turning down good food. Make sure you finish it with me- remember, you gotta get strong too!" With a grin, Ryuko grabbed her chopsticks again, leaning over to take some natto and beef. Even if these last few days had been beyond chaotic, it's not like nothing good had come out of it. Aki smiled at the thought, and made a silent wish that she'd get to keep this newfound happiness. Kamoshida was going down!

* * *

Woohoo, chapter four! I hope everyone enjoyed it. Fun fact: the doc I used to write this one is called "[AWAKENING MUSIC INTENSIFIES]". I don't recall naming it that, but I won't question when or why I did that. Note time!

\- Ryuko's thief outfit is very similar to her male self. That'll be a pretty consistent theme with most of the Thieves, actually- I think the one that I changed the most dramatically was Yusuke's, but you'll see hers eventually. Basically the only difference here was tighter pants being tucked into her boots + the little skull hairbow (half the reason I gave her a little sidetail was to be able to have that, haha). As a general rule, I don't like genderbends that put otherwise modestly dressed characters into extremely skimpy, needlessly sexy outfits that they didn't have before, so I promise you won't see any of that here. Maybe some cuter, slightly more revealing touches (Aki is in a short skirt instead of pants, after all), but nothing past that.

\- I always liked the idea of Persona users being intrinsically tied to their main element, even if it's just in little hints like it appearing before awakenings or showing up at very intense moments. So I made a couple little lightning references with Ryuko- some literal, some metaphorical, some confusing because I'm not very good at writing this stuff. When I wrote that part at 4am the idea seemed cool, and I'm too attached to take it out now.

\- For the purpose of the audience being able to hear Captain Kidd, I went with the idea of other Persona users being able to hear the voice when someone else awakens. I don't believe anything directly contradicts this in P5 canon, so yeah! I kind of took some liberties with how transformations 'feel' in general, I hope that's okay.

\- In the real game, all we know about Akira's hometown is that other characters refer to him as being from the countryside. I couldn't resist making Aki from a certain other country town in the series. It's just a little fun thing I decided to add that won't actually impact the story, though, so don't worry if you don't know much about/don't like P4 (judging by the years P4 and P5 take place in + our main character's age, Aki was probably around eleven years old when the Midnight Channel fiasco was going down, so she's got no idea any of it was paranormal or Persona-related).

And that's all I've got to say for now! Comments are the fuel that keep me going, so [Morgana voice] what are your thoughts? Anything you want to see more of? Anything I could improve on? Let me know, I'd love to hear what you think!


	5. CH5: The Investigation Continues

Hi everyone! Sorry for being a bit late, I totally forgot to upload yesterday. Better late than never, right?

 **Watcher of Ways** : Thank you so much for the kind review! I'm so glad to see you're enjoying the story! As for why I didn't include the jelly line... Well, I guess there wasn't a reason! I just ended up cutting it when editing. Don't worry, Aki the sassmaster is going to come out soon enough, and I'll be sure to keep in jokes from now on.

* * *

Sojiro was seated at the counter and working away at a newspaper crossword when Aki walked in. The ringing of the door drew the man's attention, and his bored expression settled on the girl, who paused as she entered. "Huh. You're back. I take it you actually went to school today?"

Goofing around with Ryuko earlier had put Aki in a playful mood, but she wasn't quite foolish enough to get smart with Sojiro over this. She was already carrying a model gun in her school bag- best not to do anything else improper today. Instead, she just nodded her head politely. "Yes, I did. I'm figuring out the trains bit by bit."

"Good." Despite the positive response, the man's tone and expression remained stiff and disinterested. "I don't care what you get up to, but trust me, you'll be gone if you start causing problems. You aren't living a free life right now- don't forget that."

Yeesh. As pleasant as always. Aki held back a grimace, simply casting her gaze to behind the counter. So many different types of beans… She was pretty used to instant coffee and cheap stuff from chain stores, so she wondered if her palate would even accept half of this classy stuff. Her thoughts on coffee were interrupted as she felt her phone buzz in her jacket pocket. Nearly on instinct, she pulled it out. It was her chat app- looks like a certain rambunctious blonde had messaged her.

 **Ryuko** : heyyyy i decided to go ahead and message u

 **Ryuko** : can u see this?

 **Aki** : yep ( v￣▽￣)

 **Ryuko** : lol so ur an emoji type of girl huh

 **Ryuko** : im gonna be countin on u tomorrow, k?

 **Aki** : gotcha! let's take this creep down (￣`Д´￣)9

 **Ryuko** : hell fuckin yeah my dude

 **Ryuko** : seriously tho ur such a bro

 **Ryuko** : anyways i gotta go help my mom w/ some stuff but ill seeya tomorrow! lets save those girls getting abused

'Delinquent' her butt. Ryuko was way nicer than Kawakami and the rest of Shujin seemed to give her credit for. Tucking her phone back into her pocket, she raised her head up to see a very annoyed-looking Sojiro. "Sheesh, kids these days. You're not even listening to me, are you?" Whoops, she had kind of been ignoring him there when she'd pulled out her phone. The older man sighed, moving to put his paper on the counter and stand up with a grunt. "Anyways, I'm heading home for the evening. I'll lock the store up, so don't go wandering out."

"Alright." Aki nodded her head, pausing for a moment as she considered something. "... Goodnight, Sakura-san." The man gave her an odd look, and the glasses-wearing girl could feel herself wilt under that gaze. Maybe he found it weird for some criminal kid who'd wandered into his life to be attempting such politeness.

"... Right." Ouch, not the response Aki had been hoping for. She'd really been aiming to get one back… Sojiro pushed the chair he'd been sitting at in, turning to leave the cafe. The girl turned around as soon as the door closed, not wanting to stick around down here any longer than she absolutely had to. It's not like her bedroom was at all comforting, but it had a bit of a cozy feel if nothing else. Even if last night, she'd seen a spider near the couch… Perhaps it was time for her to regroup SEES for another mission. Maybe another time when she wasn't so sleepy. Settling upstairs and leaving her school bag on that counter again, Aki took a minute to sit down on her bed and think things over. However, it didn't look like she'd be getting any thinking done for the time being- Ryuko had texted her again.

 **Ryuko** : im supposed to be helping fold laundry but i suddenly had a question for u

 **Ryuko** : that thing on ur phone was like a red eyeball yeah?

 **Aki** : yeah it is. why?

 **Ryuko** : well i found it on my phone too

 **Ryuko** : and i didnt install it! it just showed up!

 **Aki** : thats how mine showed up too actually. that's actually rly spooky (＠O＠;)

 **Ryuko** : tell me about it

 **Ryuko** : u think its being downloaded on its own or smth? it cant be safe to use this w/o knowing what it is. but at the same time it looks like the only way for us to even get into that weird ass castle.

 **Aki** : if it's the only way i guess we just gotta put up with it? still i wish i knew more about it, it's just another unknown factor in this equation. like we didn't have enough of those already (¬､¬)

 **Ryuko** : yea, guess we just gotta be careful

 **Ryuko** : solving that mystery can wait tho, lets find evidence of the abuse first!

 **Ryuko** : im countin on u! so no playing hooky tomorrow

 **Aki** : u got it! see u tomorrow (◑‿◐)

Well, that was that. The texts reminded Aki that there was so much she needed to think about regarding the castle and everything surrounding it. But with physical exhaustion had come mental exhaustion, and it was overwhelming to even imagine dealing with all the questions she had right now. Maybe, she thought while reaching to undo her braids, she could just try and get some rest right now and then try puzzling over the many queries she had tomorrow.

Yeah, sleep sounded good.

* * *

As Aki woke up to the sound of pianos and a cold, hard feeling on her back, she realized she wouldn't be getting that restful sleep as soon as she'd hoped. Grumbling under her breath in irritation as she rose to her feet, she allowed her eyes to adjust to the cool blue light of the room around her and settle on the peculiar man in the center of the room as always. Igor sat there, grinning in his usual way. "Welcome to the Velvet Room. I thought about resuming our previous conversation tonight. That is why I have summoned you. What are your thoughts? Are you becoming accustomed to this place?"

Aki's eyes circled the room, examining the other, empty prison cells. It was cold, creepy, and full of people who seemed hell bent on keeping her from getting a good night's sleep. But Caroline was giving her the stink eye from her right side, as if she could sense the black-haired girl's intention to make a snarky comment. Maybe she'd withhold her true feelings for now- she'd like to avoid the electric baton if possible. "I'm started to get used to it."

"I'm glad to hear it." Igor nodded. "It seems you have nerves of steel. Your rehabilitation determines if ruin can be stopped. Yet, such a feat cannot be done by you alone. But today, you entered a partnership with someone who awoke to the same power, haven't you?"

"You mean Ryuko?" There had been that peculiar voice talking about wings of rebellion and chariots… Something so strange seemed like it could very well be a product of this peculiar place.

"Indeed I do. Involving yourself with others is an important foundation for your recovery. You've done well." Igor seemed pleased. "That said, I am not advising the formation of superficial relationships. It must not be of frivolity, but a ring of those who would, by morals or faith, lend you their strength. In other words, they are bonds of those who have been robbed of their places to belong. The expansion of this ring will, in turn, help you mature as well."

A motion out of the corner of Aki's eye pulled her attention from the ever-smiling man in the center of the room. Justine had turned to look at her, face as blank as always. "Personas are the strength of the heart. The stronger the bonds that surround you, the more power your Personas will gain."

Caroline cut in loudly, starling Aki as her harsh voice caused her to turn in the aggressive little girl's direction. "There are countless people in the city who have talents that a weakling like you doesn't. These people will become your Confidants. You better rack that noggin of yours and get them on your side. We'll change that into power."

Before Aki had time to question why the girl would call bonds 'Confidants', Igor's smooth voice drew her attention back to him. "Indeed. You should be prepared to use even myself, or your ambitions will not come to fruition." The man chuckled, the sound echoing through the prison. "We have a deal then." A deal? She hadn't agreed to anything, though… Aki opened her mouth to speak, but closed it quickly as a familiar voice suddenly entered her mind, whispering in the back of her head.

 _I am thou, thou art I…. Thou hast acquired a new vow._

 _It shall become the wings of rebellion that breaketh thy chains of captivity._

 _With the birth of the Fool Persona, I have obtained the wings of blessing that shall lead to freedom and new power…_

And just like last time, it was gone. So Igor had known that was coming… That must have been how he'd decided a deal had been struck. Aki looked over at the old man with some befuddlement on her face, and his smile almost seemed to widen as he saw her confusion. "You will understand it all in due time… Continue devoting yourself to your rehabilitation."

"Now this conversation's over!" Caroline rapped her baton on the stone floor. "Get lost, inmate!"

Staring forth at Igor's hunched form, Aki felt her body grow heavy as the world around her slowly succumbed to blackness.

* * *

She wasn't as tired as before when she woke up the next morning. Aki noted with some degree of bemusement on the commute to Shujin that maybe her body was getting used to occasional nighttime otherworldly adventures, and was adjusting appropriately. It didn't mean she wasn't a little bit sleepy as she sat through homeroom, though. She was dreading gym class right before lunch- she'd never been particularly athletic, and she doubted the powers that allowed her to pull off elegant moves and attacks in the castle would work here in the real world.

Getting changed into her gym uniform and meandering into the gym, Aki was fully expecting a boring health class- her old school had started every first gym class with the health unit, after all. However, she heard alarm bells ringing in her head as she walked in to see a volleyball net set up- not only were they starting with a physical sports unit (no good for her exhausted self), but it was going to be volleyball. Which meant…

"Good afternoon, girls." Oh, fuck. Kamoshida entered the gym along with the last few of Aki's classmates, holding a ball under his arm and smiling pleasantly. She hadn't even put two and two together- gym class meant this guy teaching them, didn't it? Ducking her head down, she purposely zoned out through his greetings and introductions to the sport- could she keep a straight face staring the teacher in the eye now that she knew his true nature? She didn't trust her acting abilities that much, so it was better to just ignore everything that happened. The only thing that pulled her back into reality was when she heard a quiet whimper from the girl to her left. Turning her head, Aki realized it was that blue-haired girl who'd spoken on the first day. Up close, those bruises really looked awful… She was staring ahead, light hazel eyes wide like saucers. Aki turned to look at Kamoshida, focusing again to see what had caused this girl's visible distress.

"- so to practice those basics, Mishima-kun will help demonstrate. You're on the volleyball team, so you'll be fine, won't you?" Kamoshida's innocent smile in this Mishima girl's direction made Aki want to puke. So she was on the volleyball team… And those bruises… The blue-haired student looked like she was frozen for a moment before quickly nodding, stepping forwards to take a position on the other side of the net. The teacher lined up, talking cheerfully while Mishima's expression looked as if she was a prisoner waiting for the guillotine blade to drop. "Everyone, watch closely. This is a basic serve. Don't worry, Mishima-kun, I won't hit it too hard. Just return with a volley so we can demonstrate a proper exchange. But first, note where Mishima-kun is standing. She's normally an outside hitter, but to show off some basic techniques, she's taking up the position as-"

"Kamoshida's such a good teacher, isn't he? It's amazing to think we'll get a demonstration from an Olympic athlete." Talking drew Aki's attention from the explanation. The girl to Aki's right whispered to her brown-haired friend, who nodded enthusiastically.

"He really is! Too bad the person on the other side of the net is Mishima." Aki furrowed her brow at the way the other student said the name. Was Mishima not a well-regarded student? She certainly wasn't all that stylish with her far-too-short cut bangs and the way she always looked like she was worried about something whenever she caught Aki's eye, but she really didn't seem like a bad girl…

"Ugh, I know." The first girl rolled her eyes. "She's so pathetic. Remember how she cried like a baby when we locked her in the storage closet last year? Poor lil' Yuki-chan, hah!"

"I know! She was only in there for, what, two hours?" Aki was suddenly made aware of how hard she'd been clenching her fists when her palms started to hurt from the way her nails dug in. She wanted to slap these girls and every idiot adult who'd insisted that there'd somehow be less bullying and trouble at a girl's school just because the students wouldn't be fighting over male classmates. She wasn't even paying attention to the way Kamoshida and Mishima had started to rally, only being aware of some faint noises from the ball being hit back and forth. That is, until one noise came much louder than the others- an especially strong sound of the ball hitting flesh, followed by a cry and the sound of a body hitting the hard gym floor. Turning her head back to the scene, she greeted with the sight of Mishima curled up on the floor, hands covering her face as the ball rolled across her side of the court.

"Oh, dear." Kamoshida jogged around one side of the net while Aki's classmates tittered around her. Those two girls were giggling now, and if it hadn't been for her probation hanging over her head, the black-haired girl might have taken the L she'd get from throttling one of them. The teacher leant over the girl on the floor, reaching to help sit her upright, and Aki had to hold back bile as she noticed the way Mishima froze up in horror as soon as the older man touched her. "I'm sorry, Mishima-kun, I didn't realize that last one was too quick for you." Looking over at the rest of the class, he wore an apologetic expression- a fake one, of course. How many of that girl's bruises was the gym teacher responsible for? "Can someone walk her to the nurse's office?"

"I'll do it." Aki's hand was raised before she even realized what she was doing, walking towards the two on the floor. She heard the girl beside her snicker. Kamoshida sent her a curious look before giving her another smile. _How much time does he spend behind that mask of pretending to care about the students?_ , Aki wondered bitterly.

"That's very kind of you, Kurusu-kun. Just make sure you head on back once the nurse sees her, alright? I wouldn't want you to miss your first gym class as a new student." His smile remained as his eyes ran over Aki, his hand on Mishima's shoulder slowly running down to brush her back, and the way the blue-haired girl flinched at the questionable contact made Aki want to skin him alive. She bit her tongue hard and nodded, crouching down and helping Mishima up, leaning the injured student on her shoulder. The girl was still using one hand to cover her lower face, and Aki could see blood trickling through her fingers. Ignoring the whispers of the students, she carefully supported Mishima against her as the two went to exit the gym.

Once outside, Aki paused to check that the door had closed behind them before looking down at Mishima, who was slowly pushing herself off Aki's shoulder. "It's… It's alright, Kurusu-san." The girl mumbled, voice somewhat difficult to hear through her hand. "I can walk myself to the nurse."

"It's fine, I'll come to make sure you get there okay." Aki paused before tilting her head to look the shorter girl in the eye. "... I'd rather not get back to gym class too soon."

Mishima stared back for a moment, and it almost looked like there was a question brewing behind her eyes before she quickly diverted her gaze. "... Alright. If you want to." She ducked her head and started moving down the hall, leaving Aki to catch up. At least her body itself didn't seem like it had been hurt.

There was an awkward silence as the girls walked down the hallway, Aki coming to realize that Mishima most likely saw her as some crazed criminal like the rest of the girls. She'd heard the whispers today, too, and most of them were patently untrue- robbery? Drugs? _Murder_ , even? It really wasn't all that surprising that such a jumpy girl would be ignoring her. Still, she should probably try to say something… "So… You're Yuki Mishima, right? I didn't know you were an athlete." Great. Master conversationalist Aki Kurusu. She needed to work on improving her charm.

Mishima nodded slowly as she walked, the two longer pieces of hair at the front of her head falling forwards slightly. "That's me, yes. But I'm not really… an athlete or anything. I'm on the volleyball team, but I'm not any good at it…"

"Ah." Since she was on the volleyball team, maybe Aki should try to squeeze some information out of her…? It would probably be best if she waited for Ryuko to tell her which students she'd seen down there in Kamoshida's castle, but this girl very well could have been one of them. Maybe some very gentle questioning would work. "Is Mr. Kamoshida a good coach?"

Mishima's eyes went wide again, and there was nothing good about the way her steps turned stiff and tense. "He's…" The girl suddenly stood up straight, halting her movements. "A-Ah, the nurse's office is right there. I'm sorry for the trouble, Kurusu-san. Thank you." Without even looking at her again, Mishima darted off towards the nearby door, almost throwing it open and scurrying inside. Aki stood, stunned, in the empty hallway. She'd absolutely dodged that question… But her lack of a response was damning in its own way.

… She needed to get back to gym. The sudden, terrified look in Mishima's eyes after she'd been asked about Kamoshida would bother Aki for a long time to come.

* * *

Gym was fortunately short- Aki took her time getting back, and she managed to avoid any interaction with Kamoshida for the last twenty minutes or so. She'd never been so thankful for class ending when she and the others made her way back to the changeroom. While she was adjusting her skirt suspenders, the phone in her bag made a buzzing noise, prompting her to grab it- it's not like any of the other girls in here were following the 'no phones in the changeroom' rule with the way they were all texting, anyways. The sender was no surprise.

 **Ryuko** : can u meet me by the vending machines out in the courtyard?

 **Aki** : yep, i'll be there soon. i gotta get changed first tho, gym was a shitshow today (ﾟдﾟ；)

 **Ryuko** : my class doesnt have gym till friday, what happened? did shitbag pull something?

 **Aki** : yeah but i think it was an accident? maybe?

 **Aki** : he hit the ball too hard and it smoked a girl in the face, i had to walk her to the nurse and she had a really bad nosebleed

 **Ryuko** : that dumbass, he's an ex-olympian! he oughta know when to tone it down!

 **Ryuko** : ugh im all riled up, come down asap

Wasting no more time, Aki hustled to get changed and rushed down to the school courtyard, brushing past the other students on their lunch breaks. It was pretty nice to have a way to travel from one side of the building to the other quickly, but that wasn't exactly her prime concern right now as she hurried to see Ryuko. The blonde girl was standing in front of the vending machines just like she said she'd be, pacing endlessly. She only stopped as she saw Aki approaching, stuffing her hands in her pockets and huffing. "Not surprised that he ended up hurtin' some kid while showin' off. But we gotta get lookin' for those students we saw in the castle the other day. The volleyball team has a practice tonight, so I'll bet all the members of the team will be here today. I'll be sure to find someone to spill the beans on Kamoshida's abuse."

"So where do we start?"

Ryuko hummed, thinking it over. "The first one I noticed was a girl from Class D, so let's start from there. That's your class. You may have to do the talkin', though- people here kind of don't like to speak with me too much… But I guess you're kinda in the same boat."

"We'll try our best anyways." When Ryuko had mentioned that the girl was in Class D, she sincerely hoped she didn't mean Mishima. Aki would be surprised if she was back from the nurse's office yet, but she decided to follow the blonde girl as she started off in the direction of the main building for now. If it did turn out to be about Mishima, they could just move on to the next student Ryuko remembered.

Arriving at her classroom, Aki gently opened the door, noting a variety of students eating and chatting inside. A few gave the door a glance as it opened up, all of them quickly turning away when they noticed who the two girls entering the room actually were. Ryuko pointed in the direction of one girl standing in the corner of the classroom, reading some of the posters pinned up next to the blackboard. "That's Yanagawa-san. You oughta go talk to her- she's your classmate, after all. I searched her up on their team website, and she's a setter, but I saw her walkin' around with a black eye today. Pretty damn weird for a _setter_ of all players to end up with an injury like that."

"You're right." Aki nodded, pretending she knew anything at all about volleyball. It at least _sounded_ right, so she wasn't going to dispute it. Taking a deep breath, she walked forwards, navigating a few groups eating lunch to approach the girl standing in the corner. She couldn't actually see her face yet, but Aki braced herself for a potential black eye. "You're Yanagawa-san, right?"

The girl turned to face her, and Aki had to bite her lip at the sight of her face. Though her long bangs were parted to cover part of it, Yanagawa's right eye was swollen up like a balloon, and a large bandage was covering the vast majority of her left cheek. The girl cringed as she made eye contact with Aki, shrinking down slightly. "... What do you want?"

Right, she still saw her as some sort of criminal… Aki did her best to tone her voice down, speaking as gently as she could. "I was wondering how you'd gotten injured."

"I-It's from practice, and that's none of your business anyways!" Yanagawa balked, shaking her head furiously. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Kamoshida did it to you, right?" Ryuko had approached the scene, standing beside Aki as she stared Yanagawa down. "Listen, I ain't gonna tell anyone you squealed. Just tell us about how Kamoshida's abusin' you."

If Ryuko's poor wording hadn't been enough of an indicator that this wasn't going to go well, the way Yanagawa took a huge step back when she saw the blonde approach spelled out the future pretty clearly. "I-I don't know what you're talking about! You can't just go spreading rumours about him because he revealed the truth about you, Sakamoto!"

"Stop tryin' to hide it!" The blonde girl stomped her foot angrily. "None of it was true, and besides, I know he's been abusin' the whole volleyball team."

For a moment, Yanagawa's face softened. There was the faintest glimmer of hope behind her one uninjured eye, and she quieted her voice. "You… You know? You have proof?"

Ryuko froze up, looking to Aki helplessly. "Well… uh… I…"

Just like that, the hope was gone, replaced with that same empty look. Yanagawa sighed, crossing her arms. "This is completely ridiculous. Please leave me alone, you're really bothering me!"

"... All right, that's enough." Ryuko sounded defeated as she turned around to leave, much to Aki's surprise. She'd expected the blonde girl to keep going at it, and had been fully prepared to step in and stop her. Instead, she was meandering towards the door, looking back at Aki over her shoulder. "C'mon, let's go." Aki spared one last look at the dejected Yanagawa before following her newfound ally out of the classroom. Once they'd closed the door behind them, Ryuko sighed, stuffing her hands in her pockets. "It was totally obvious, but she wouldn't fess up! Crap… if we keep on at this pace, lunch break's gonna end... "

"Why don't we split up?" Aki offered, sparing a glance at one of the hall clocks to realize they may not have enough time if they just kept going together. Besides, the two of them hanging out might seem too frightening for the other students to open up to.

"That would be faster, wouldn't it?" Ryuko grinned at the suggestion. "Alright, I'll check the Practice Building for people before lunch ends. You handle the classroom building. Just look for girls that seem kinda roughed up, okay? I know there's a third-year on the volleyball team that I can remember from the site. Her last name's Motomura. She's in… I think 3-C? She's real tall with a bob cut, if that helps any. Try asking her first."

Aki nodded, adjusting her bag over her shoulder. "Got it. We'll text each other if we find anything."

* * *

With both girls setting off in opposite directions, Aki made her way to the first floor where the third year classrooms were located. She was worried that she'd have to peek into classrooms to find who she was looking for, but fate smiled upon her almost as soon as she was down the stairs- a girl, easily four inches taller than Aki and sporting both a bob cut and a bandage over her left eye, was leaning against a wall with a soft drink, chatting away with a smaller brunette girl with pigtails. There was her mark. Approaching carefully, Aki offered her best smile. "Motomura-senpai?"

The tall girl looked down, nose crinkling as recognition washed over her face. "Oh, you're _that_ kid. What do you want?" The brunette stayed quiet, watching with mild interest.

"I was just wondering how you got hurt." Aki motioned to the bandage over the girl's eye. Motomura visibly bristled, hand tightening around her soda.

"It's from practice. People get hurt in volleyball all the time, so I dunno why you're even asking." Just as she responded, her friend piped in, looking concerned.

"Ah, Rena-chan, I think I know what's up. This girl's been hanging around with Sakamoto recently…" As the pigtailed girl spoke, Motomura's eyes widened, and then quickly narrowed as she glared at Aki.

"Ohh, I get it. You're trying to snoop on Mr. Kamoshida, aren't you?" She chuckled ruefully. "Look, we're a volleyball team that performs at national levels. Most of us are aspiring Olympians. Do you think our practices are gonna be walks in the park? Mr. Kamoshida's just dedicated to training us. You can't just go around believing anything that skank says."

She knew she had to get information, but hearing another girl of all people refer to Ryuko in the same way that Kamoshida did made Aki's blood boil, and she had to work hard to keep her tone relatively polite. "Please don't talk about Ryuko that way."

"What way?" Motomura laughed, taking another sip of her drink. "I'm just saying the truth. You gotta get friends that don't attack teachers and sleep around."

"Rena-chan, can we go?" The brunette still looked concerned, tugging on her friend's sleeve. "You've heard all the stuff people say, I bet she does the same stuff Sakamoto does for money… Maybe they met in Shinjuku or something."

"Yeah, let's just get out of here." Motomura spared one last, withering glance at Aki. "You don't know anything about our team, so maybe you just oughta stop causing trouble." With that, she and her friend turned in the other direction, vacating the area and leaving Aki quietly fuming and standing alone. She'd seen what was in Kamoshida's castle, so she knew those girls were getting beaten up- why wasn't anyone saying anything?! And on top of that… she didn't feel so good listening to rumours about Ryuko. Bits and pieces were coming together, and Aki felt like she was a voyeur of a history she was not invited to learn about. Just then, a buzzing sound came from her pocket.

 **Ryuko** : hows it going?

 **Aki** : motomura totally brushed me off

 **Ryuko** : u too? god everyones so freaked out over kamoshida

 **Ryuko** : try looking into eguchi and natsuyaki, they're both in class 1-b. always together, both of em got long black hair, natsuyaki wears glasses.

 **Aki** : okay, i'll try.

Normally she'd put a cute emoticon in there, but… maybe now wasn't the best time.

* * *

She'd looked into Eguchi and Natsuyaki, only to get effectively stonewalled from them. Ryuko had given her a couple more names, but each bruised and battered girl only panicked and insisted that it was practice before all but telling her to get lost. There were no more comments about her or Ryuko, which was a plus, but maybe that was just because the first-years didn't feel like they could be so openly critical of the senior students. She'd gotten one lead and one lead only- the last girl she'd talked to, an anxious looking first-year who looked far too small to be any good at volleyball, had mentioned how a certain Mishima had been receiving 'special coaching' from Kamoshida before quickly panicking and asking Aki to forget she said anything. Still, that was better than anything she'd had up until this point. But by the time she'd squeezed that tiny lead out, the bell was ringing to indicate lunch was ending. Pulling out her phone, Aki started walking and texting.

 **Aki** : i got a lead. it's not much, but i can explain it after school.

 **Ryuko** : thank god, i had nothing.

 **Ryuko** : can u meet me in the courtyard again after classes end?

 **Aki** : i'll be there

With the plan made, Aki went back to her own class, trying to focus on the lesson and not on the way Yanagawa was staring at her from across the room for the rest of the day.

This time, Aki was the one to get to the courtyard first. With nothing better to do, she started idly checking the vending machines for drinks. None of these really looked too appetizing… 'Water of Rebirth'? She'd seen the ingredients for that one online, nooooo thank you. The sound of footsteps approaching from behind drew her attention away from the vending machine, and Aki turned with the expectation that Ryuko would be standing behind her, raring to go as she always was. Instead, it was an entirely different blonde girl.

"Can I talk to you for a sec? It'll be quick." Takamaki was standing there, arms crossed and a stern look on her face. Aki quickly pushed yesterday's image of a bikini-clad princess out of her mind. "So what's with you? Like how you being lost the other day was a lie and all."

"What do you want with her?" Another voice rung out before the surprised Aki could respond. Ryuko had turned the corner, approaching both girls with an annoyed glare in directed at Takamaki.

The pigtailed student took it in stride, turning to look at the other girl with the same stern expression. "Right back at you. You're not even in our class. What are you planning on doing to Mr. Kamoshida?"

Ryuko's jaw dropped for a moment. "Huh?!" After a second, though, she tensed, closing her mouth and letting out an airy chuckle. "Oh, I see. I getcha. You're all buddy-buddy with Kamoshida, after all."

Takamaki glared, inhaling deeply. "Look, this has nothing to do with you, Sakamoto."

"Anything to do with Kamoshida's got somethin' to do with me!" Ryuko snapped, stomping her foot on the ground. "If you found out what he's been doin' behind your back, you'd dump him right away!"

Now it was Takamaki's turn to look flabbergasted, and Aki observed curiously as the pigtailed girl jolted as if she'd been shocked. "Wha… Behind my back…? What's that supposed to mean…?"

"A girl like you wouldn't get it." Ryuko crossed her arms, glaring. "Now, we got somewhere to be, so-"

"Just listen!" Takamaki interrupted Ryuko with an angry hiss, though she calmed down considerably as she kept talking. "People are talking about the two of you. I don't know what you're trying to pull, but no one's gonna help you do it. I'm warning you just in case. That's really all." Moving to the side, the pigtailed girl marched past Ryuko and down the sheltered walkway. Both remaining students watched her leave, the blonde sighing and turning to Aki.

"Why's she gotta be so pushy all the time? It's always been obnoxious." Grumbling, Ryuko moved to lean against the main wall next to a vending machine.

"You know her?" Aki cocked her head curiously. Shujin wasn't a small school, so it wasn't like it would be normal to know everybody.

Ryuko nodded affirmatively, moving to stretch her arm. "Sort of. We went to the same middle school. Anyways, she's not what we came here to talk about." Finishing her stretch, she turned to Aki, expression serious. "I had no luck on my end, but you said you had a lead?"

"Just a name," Aki responded. "A first-year student brought up that Yuki Mishima from my class has gotten hurt pretty bad, and that she's receiving 'special coaching'." The black-haired girl raised her hands in air quote motions around the last two words.

"... 'Special coaching', huh?" Ryuko's face darkened, and Aki watched the girl clench her fist tightly as she pushed herself off from the wall. "No wonder that Mishima kid always looks so badly beat up. Looks like someone took a baseball bat to her half the time."

Aki couldn't help but feel a bit… unsettled. This time, Ryuko's anger wasn't explosive or out in a quick burst. She was speaking at a reasonable volume, her tone wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but something behind her voice _seethed_. Something had hit a nerve with this girl. "... Ryuko? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," She nodded curtly, inhaling deeply and tapping her foot on the ground. "I'm just fine. But we gotta find Mishima before she goes to practice." Turning, Ryuko started heading down the pathway to the school building, looking over her shoulder. "Coming?"

"... Yeah." Pausing as she observed the blonde, Aki wanted to ask if it was really fine and if something in particular had caused her to act just a bit… off. But there really wasn't time- who knew how long they had until Mishima would be in practice? They'd need to go get her now. Reaching up to adjust sliding glasses, Aki set off, following Ryuko.

The duo had intended to head in the direction of the gym, given how most volleyball players were probably headed in that direction. However, such a path lead them directly past the lobby, where a certain flash of blue hair caught their attentions. Mishima, sans uniform jacket as always, was quietly heading outside, apparently skipping practice. _Not a bad choice,_ Aki thought as Ryuko made a beeline in the timid girl's direction with her following along, _she's probably injured_. The blonde caught up first, stepping out in front of Mishima to block her path. "Hey, got a sec?"

Aki caught up, standing beside her fellow Persona user. Just as she'd suspected she might, the girl's face now sported a large bandage across the nose, yet another telling sign that something was going terribly wrong for her. Mishima's eyes widened, and she took a step back in fear. "Sakamoto…? And Kurusu too…?"

There was nothing pleasant about the way Mishima looked at the two of them like they were going to eat her alive, eyes wide like a doe and hands clutching tightly to her schoolbag. Ryuko spoke up, crossing her arms. "Come on, we just wanna chat. We heard some rumours- Kamoshida's been 'coaching' you, huh? You sure it's just volleyball training?"

Mishima let out a noise halfway between a squeak and a whimper, shaking her head furiously. "C-Certainly not! It's nothing like that!"

"You don't gotta talk so politely, we're in the same grade," Ryuko huffed. "Aki told me he spiked you in the face today." The blonde girl extended one hand, pointing right at the center of the other student's face. "Even if she hadn't, I coulda guessed something went down from that bandage."

"T-That's just because I'm not good at the sport… It wasn't his fault, it was mine." Mishima looked off to the side, and Aki noticed what looked like an old, faded scar on her exposed forehead- longer bangs might have covered it, but the white line was clear as day with her haircut. How long had this been going on for?

"An Olympic athlete should know to be careful around you if you really aren't good at it. And that doesn't explain all the other bruises you've got." As Mishima opened her mouth to reply to the blonde, Ryuko quickly cut back in. "And don't go saying it's from practice! You realize what we're thinkin' this 'special coaching' is all about, don't you? Is he forcin' you guys to keep quiet? You know my history with the fucker, dude. I'm not gonna run and tattle on you. We just gotta know what's going on."

Ryuko's voice softened near the end, and Aki found herself unsurprised by the way the blue-haired student's face stiffened, almost as if she was trying not to cry. "That's…" Mishima shifted, eyes falling to her shoes. "It's r-really nothing like what you think, it's just…"

"What's going on here?" Three pairs of eyes swiveled to a new voice approaching from the main hallway. A jolt ran down Aki's spine as she laid eyes upon the source- Kamoshida was heading right towards them. Mishima made a choking noise as the teacher got closer, pausing to look right at her. "Mishima-kun, isn't it time for practice?"

So did he just forget that little injury from today, or did he just not care? Aki wanted to snap at him to let the kid he injured just have a damn break. Of course, Mishima didn't respond with any such outrage, simply swallowing hard and refusing to make eye contact with the man. "M-My nose still really hurts, so…"

"I checked with the nurse, she said it isn't broken," Kamoshida rested his hands on his hips, peering down questioningly at the girl. "Like I always say, no pain, no gain. If you can't remember that, maybe you're better off quitting. You're never going to improve your reaction time unless you show up to practice."

"Didn't you hear her?" Ryuko snapped, stepping in between the two and getting in Kamoshida's face. "She's hurt!"

The teacher only chuckled, humoured by the shorter girl's attempt to intimidate. He tilted his head to look past her at the blue-haired girl. "Well, Mishima-kun? Are you coming to practice or not?"

Something in his tone… Aki couldn't place it perfectly, but it almost felt like he wasn't truly asking the girl a question, simply giving her an order: _you're coming to practice. I'm just pretending to give you a choice here_. Mishima lowered her head and nodded slowly. "... I'll go."

Kamoshida smiled, pleased. "Excellent. And as for you?" He turned back to Ryuko, taking a step forwards and stepping on the line of the girl's intimate space- far too close to the blonde for someone like Aki to be in, much less Kamoshida. "You're quite fortunate to have been allowed to stay here after your little 'incidents' came to light last year. Any more trouble and you'll be gone from this school for sure." As the blonde student muttered something under her breath, the teacher turned his head to face Aki. "Kurusu-kun, you really should try to keep better company while you're here. The principal did warn you to keep in line, and I'd just hate to see someone working to better herself get into even more trouble because you fell in with a delinquent."

Eugh. Aki would really never get used to speaking to this guy after seeing him wearing a cape and pink speedo, but she managed to keep her face neutral and avoid giving away her discomfort. "Right. I was just leaving."

"That's good. All these rumours are making the girls anxious, after all." The way he spoke as if he had no part in those rumours… Ryuko didn't seem to be having any of it either, judging by the way she clenched her fists tighter with each word out of the teacher's mouth.

"That's your own goddamn fault." The blonde seethed, face darkening as she boldly stared up at the much taller man.

"Now, why would you think that?" The smile Kamoshida responded with was as innocent as ever, and Aki felt like she was starting to understand why Ryuko was such a ball of anger around the guy- she'd get pissed off spending any amount of time around such an obnoxious dick. "Shujin Academy is a place where young women with aspirations come to learn. It's no place for an aimless troublemaker to be."

Satisfied with the point he'd made, Kamoshida turned without another thought, getting back on the original path he was taking towards the gym. Ryuko growled under her breath as she watched the teacher leave. "That asshole… He's gonna pay for this."

"There's no use." Mishima's meek voice broke through, sounding even more miserable than she had when Aki had been walking her, injured and bleeding, to the nurse. "Proving that we're being abused… it's meaningless. Everybody knows… the principal… our parents… they all know, and they all keep quiet about it."

Even the principal and parents knew their daughters were being abused? Ryuko's eyes widened in horror, and Aki wondered if she herself was sporting an identical expression. The blonde's voice wavered. "He's… They know? This has gotta be a joke…"

"Don't be like that." Mishima bit her lip, looking like she was stuck between wanting to get angry and wanting to curl up into a ball. "Shouldn't _you_ of all people know nothing can stop him, Sakamoto…?!" Shaking her head, the blue haired girl cast a hard, sad look in the direction of both other students before turning to quickly scurry away down the hallway, headed towards the gym.

There was a dreadful silence over the duo as they realized what they were dealing with here. Ryuko in particular looked like she'd just been kicked in the stomach, and she slowly turned her head to look at the glasses-wearing student. "Aki, I… I'm gonna try one more time to convince the other girls, but… if this is all we can do…"

Aki didn't know what to say. Here they were, knowing full well that Kamoshida was abusing his students, but with no way to prove it. Who would believe them about the castle? And with both their histories, no doubt they'd be brushed off as troublemakers.

It wasn't _fair._

* * *

The rest of the day was markedly uninteresting. Go home, have an awkward conversation with Sojiro, go upstairs. Check, check, check. After the awful truths Aki had learned today, she wasn't in much of a mood to do anything but go to bed. The only notable event of the evening came when she was already in her pajamas- her phone buzzed, most likely Ryuko. She'd sent her parents a couple texts since yesterday, but all she'd gotten back were curt replies that didn't say anything beyond what was absolutely necessary- they were seemingly very happy to pretend she didn't exist right now, so it would be surprising if it was them. Picking up the phone and checking the contact, Aki's initial guess on who it could be was spot on.

 **Ryuko** : k this doesnt make any goddamn sense

 **Ryuko** : the principal and parents know about the abuse

 **Ryuko** : why is nobody speaking up?!

 **Aki** : because volleyball, probably

 **Aki** : he made shujin's team famous, didn't he?

 **Ryuko** : he kinda did…

 **Ryuko** : but that doesn't give that creep the right to do whatever tf he wants!

 **Ryuko** : hes beating girls up! and hes probably… fuck i dont even wanna think about it

 **Ryuko** : and that one little follower of his doesnt give a shit

 **Aki** : wait, who are you talking about?

 **Ryuko** : ann takamaki. u met her in the courtyard, remember?

 **Ryuko** : ugh this is such a load of bullshit! im not letting it end like this!

She was determined, that much was for sure. Aki smiled down at the phone screen, though the content expression melted into something far more neutral as she started to think. Everything she'd learned about Kamoshida… Ryuko had spoken the other day about trying to warn people that he was a pervert, and then there was all the stuff the other girls at school said… Aki had an idea of what might have happened, and _really_ didn't want to believe it _._ Her curiosity was really getting the better of her, and it couldn't be right for her to just let her own mind fill in the gaps and potentially build a false image of her newfound friend…

 **Aki** : ryuko, can i ask you something?

 **Ryuko** : yeah sure

 **Aki** : … actually, nevermind.

 **Ryuko** : eh? alright

 **Ryuko** : ttyl then

Aki sighed, all but flopping onto the bed. She'd chickened out over asking about the rumours and what the Kamoshida in the castle had been saying. If it was what she suspected, that would be an extremely hard conversation to have. Maybe she'd ask the other girl when things were less stressful for both of them. It had to get cleared up eventually, right?

… She hoped so.

* * *

A delayed train the next morning had meant Aki didn't get to talk to Ryuko before school started. She did, at least, get the confirmation over text that the blonde was going to keep brainstorming ideas. That was good- their last attempt hadn't gone over too smoothly, so Aki was hoping either she or the other student could come up with a way to get real evidence on Kamoshida. She hadn't come up with anything until midway through the day, when her phone buzzed in the middle of social studies.

 **Ryuko** : i think i got an idea!

 **Aki** : you do? what is it?

 **Ryuko** : i say we try and get something outta takamaki

 **Aki** : i don't think she's on the volleyball team, though

 **Ryuko** : just hear me out

 **Ryuko** : you know how we couldnt get squat outta the volleyball team?

 **Ryuko** : we can try and get someone who's friends with a player to talk

Aki paused, raising her eyes from the phone to look at the back of Ann's head. It was weird to talk about somebody over text while they sat right in front of her…

 **Aki** : oh, does she have a friend on the team?

 **Ryuko** : yup yup

 **Ryuko** : shiho suzui, one of the starters. they're BFFs

 **Ryuko** : i tried talking to her earlier. no dice. thats why i was thinkin we could get takamaki to talk to her about it!

 **Aki** : that's not a bad idea, but… will takamaki actually do it? she didn't seem super happy with us yesterday (-∧-；)

 **Ryuko** : oof, ur right. didnt really think abt that

 **Ryuko** : yeah, nevermind. sorry to bug u in class. Meet me near the vending machines again after school k?

 **Ryuko** : ill come up with something eventually…

Would she actually? Aki sincerely hoped one of them would have that mythical lightbulb moment where the answer fell right into their laps, but with a problem of this scale… Maybe it wasn't wise to bet on a solution popping out of thin air. Sighing quietly, the girl put her phone back down, refocusing on the lecture.

* * *

Packing up at the end of the day, Aki's mind was still agonizingly void of any ideas. Judging by the radio silence coming from her phone, Ryuko hadn't fared much better. _What can we even do to stop Kamoshida?_ , Aki wondered as she slipped the last notebook into her bag. She'd been so hopeful that the other world they'd fallen into would provide a solution, but… all it did was make them fully aware of the situation, and even then Ryuko had already seemingly been well aware of a lot of what was going on. What was it even good for? The only purpose it had served as of yet was to taunt them with proof that they could never use against Kamoshida in the real world. Aki was so caught up in her bitter theorizing that she nearly walked into a girl standing in front of the doors to the courtyard. The girl flinched as the transfer student nearly walked right into her, backing up awkwardly. "Ah… Wait, I'm sorry. I'm in the way, aren't I?"

Looking over at the doors… She kind of was. Still, it wasn't a big deal. Aki offered her a smile, adjusting the glasses that had slid down her nose. "Ah, I'm sorry too. I should have been paying more attention."

And speaking of paying more attention, Aki re-adjusting her glasses allowed for a clear look at the other student's face. Black ponytail, brown eyes, all pretty simple- but what stood out the most was the black eye the girl was sporting, looking new and swollen. The transfer student barely managed to withhold a wince at the sight. The girl bowed apologetically. "I really am sorry though. I must have spaced out…" Pausing, the girl looked at Aki a bit closer, tilting her head slightly. "Hm… You don't look familiar. Could you be that transfer student from Class D?"

Damn, and here she'd been having her first normal conversation (with someone other than Ryuko) since arriving. Aki grimaced slightly, nodding. "That's right." Time to scare someone off again…

Much to her surprise, though, the girl didn't look frightened or apprehensive. She looked… sympathetic? Rubbing her elbow, she cast her dull gaze down to the floor. "I see… Um, this might not be any of my business, but don't let the rumours get to you, okay…? It's just… My best friend is often misunderstood too, though in her case it's because of her looks… and I know how hard it can be for her. So I hope you're doing alright too."

Without realizing she'd done it, Aki had started smiling again- who knew how much power one kind person could have on how she felt…? "Thank you, I appreciate it." Looking back at what the girl had said, though… a clearly beat up looking girl wearing athletic gear who had a best friend misunderstood because of her looks… Was this who Ryuko had mentioned before? "Um, are you Shiho Suzui?"

The ponytailed girl looked surprised, though she nodded affirmatively. "Hm? Ah… Yes, that's right."

"Then it's nice to meet you, Suzui-san." Looking closer at Shiho, the girl looked so downtrodden… Something was wrong with her eyes, and not just because one of them was swelling purple. "I'm Aki Kurusu."

"It's nice to meet you too, Kurusu-san." Even with the look in her eyes, Shiho mustered up a smile. It didn't last long- she seemed to recall something, and her expression faded into a growing look of dread. "Ah… I'm going to be late for practice. I had better get going, but… It was nice to talk to you."

Nodding a farewell, Aki turned to watch the girl go, body hunched over like she was trying to shrink down and appear invisible. Another girl on the volleyball team, another girl who looked like she was always resisting the urge to curl up into a ball on the floor… How could everyone just keep overlooking this? Aki tensed her jaw before turning back towards the door, pushing it open and making a right turn. Luckily for her, Ryuko seemed to have already arrived in their meeting spot. Turning to look at the glasses-wearing girl, the spirited girl let out a dramatic huff of air and crossed her arms. "Dammit. What the hell…"

"Nice to see you too, Ryuko." Aki raised her eyebrow questioningly. What was up with that greeting? The blonde didn't seem phased, moving to lean her back against the vending machine.

"I couldn't find anyone on the team who would 'fess up to what's going on. All of 'em kept sayin' the same shit Mishima was talking about…!" The frustration was evident in the girl's voice, and she brought her head back to smack against the vending machine a few times. "Kamoshida had to have told 'em something! At this rate… it looks like we'll have to go to him directly."

"I mean, we probably should have started with that." Aki was a little miffed from the lack of a greeting, and it showed in her tone. It didn't look like Ryuko noticed, though. Biting her lip in frustration, she let out a long sigh.

"I know… I just… I hate bein' near the guy." She crossed her arms tighter, staring at the opposing vending machine idly. "Is there anything we can do?"

"We could try calling the police…?" Aki suggested, her slight irritation fading away as she tried to come up with some ideas she hadn't already realized were pointless during her classtime brainstorming sessions.

Ryuko shook her head. "I don't think that'll work… We can't tell 'em about the castle, and it looks like Kamoshida's forcin' the players to make sure their bullshit 'practice' stories line up. We don't have enough evidence." Sighing, the girl lifted one hand to rub at her eye in exhaustion. "What can we-"

"I finally found you!"

A new voice cut her off. That was… weird. It sounded like it was right next to them, but when Aki turned, nobody was there. Turning back, Ryuko seemed just as befuddled. "... Wait, did you say something?"

"Don't think you can get away with not paying me back for helping you two!" Leaping over the fence, a black cat strutted into the area authoritatively before pouncing onto the table in between both girls. "It was a lot of trouble finding you, you know!"

The voice… Was it coming from the cat? Ryuko looked flabbergasted, mouth hanging open. "What the- the cat's talkin'!? You hear that too, don't you?"

"We've got to be hallucinating or something…" Aki murmured, staring in confusion at the cat. Sure, they'd encountered some outright bizarre situations these past few days, but all of them had been confided to the otherworldly castle. She was having a much more difficult time processing impossible things such as, y'know, _talking cats_ , when they were happening in the real world.

"Hey!" The cat meowed angrily, tail puffing momentarily. "I am NOT a cat! This is just what happened when I came to this world!"

Came to this world…? A black cat with a yellow collar, and that familiar voice... Aki and Ryuko put two and two together at the exact same time, yelping out in unison. "MORGANA?!"

"Of course it's me!" Morgana snapped, sitting down in a huff. "I got awfully lost escaping that castle, and you two amateurs certainly made tracking you down a challenge! But…" If cats could properly smile, Aki swore that's what this one would be doing. "I heard part of your conversation. You guys seem like you're having a rough time with this, hm? I could tell you a thing or two about what to do about Kamoshida."

"Wha- quiet down! Your voice is too loud!" Aki got over the shock first, holding up her hands in front of herself. As she did, a conversation from the other side of the courtyard walkway became audible. A teacher and student were walking by, the teacher looking irritated.

" _We really have time to be looking for a cat in a busy time like this…?"_

" _I just heard a meow somewhere near here. Didn't you hear it?"_

" _Just make sure you check every nook and cranny around."_

Fading out as the pair walked further away, Aki turned to Ryuko to see the gears clicking in the blonde's head as she gradually realized what that conversation had to mean. "Meow… Does that mean only the two of us can understand what you're sayin'? What the hell's with this…?"

"Looks like it." Morgana stretched out, arching her back. Aki had the urge to reach out and pet her, but she'd seen both Morgana's fighting capabilities and her insistence that she was a human. An action like that would probably get her clawed. "Anyways, do you wanna know how to beat Kamoshida or not?"

"Of course we do! Shit, we shouldn't talk here, though…" Ryuko paused for a moment. She seemingly had no qualms about touching Morgana, though, as she suddenly reached down to grab the cat by the scruff of her neck, ignoring the indignant yowl from the feline. "Aki, stick her in your bag for now! She should be just small enough to fit!"

Well, Ryuko wasn't wrong. Reaching over her shoulder to slip her bag down, Aki started to unzip it as Morgana kicked her little legs in anger. "Hey! How dare you treat me like this! Put me down!"

"Sorry, Morgana…" Aki apologized quietly, though she did have to restrain a laugh as she watched Ryuko attempt to fit the struggling cat into the satchel.

* * *

Thankfully, Morgana had stayed quiet on the trip up to the rooftop. Aki had barely avoided an angry swipe as she unzipped the bag on the rooftop, though, and the feline now still sitting on the ground with an irritated expression. "Don't be so rough with me! It smelt like sweat in there!"

Oops, she might have stuffed Morgana in with the gym clothes she was bringing home to wash. Aki offered an apologetic expression as Ryuko just huffed at the cat. "Hey, enough of that! You said you know how we can do something about Kamoshida, right?"

Morgana got over her annoyance fairly quickly, Aki noted, as she was quick to get down to the important subject. "Well, it's only possible since the two of you have your powers. You need to attack his castle."

"What do you mean?" Ryuko cocked her head.

"That castle is how Kamoshida views this school," Morgana's ears twitched. "He doesn't realize what happens in there, but it's deeply connected to the depths of his heart. Thus, if the castle disappears, it would naturally impact the real Kamoshida. A Palace is a manifestation of a person's distorted desires. So, if that castle were no more…"

"His desires would go too." Aki finished for her, the solution slowly becoming clearer. That Palace wasn't just uselessly taunting them with unusable evidence- they could use it to take down Kamoshida!

Morgana flicked her tail contentedly. "Precisely! You pick up on things fast."

Ryuko made a surprised noise, straightening her back out. "Wait, for real?! He's gonna turn good? But… Is that actually gettin' back at him?"

"Erasing a Palace essentially means forcing the owner to have a change of heart. However, even though their warped wants disappear, the crimes they committed remain. Kamoshida will become unable to bear the weight of those crimes, and he'll confess them himself!" Morgana spoke with confidence- it was weird hearing that assertive, girlish tone coming from a little black cat. "And since the Palace will no longer exist, he'll forget what we did there as well. Not only will we be able to bring Kamoshida down, but there won't even be a trace of our involvement."

"That's amazing!" Ryuko grinned, her contagious enthusiasm making Aki smile as well. "You're one incredible cat! So, how do we get rid of the Palace!?"

"You're right, except for the cat part. And we get rid of it by stealing the Treasure held within." Noticing the look of confusion on both girls' faces, Morgana continued. "I'll tell you more once you agree to go ahead with this. It's my most valuable, secret plan, after all. If you want to help me out, I'll gladly teach you. What's your call?"

Ryuko hummed, tilting her head to face Aki. "Our luck's runnin' dry lookin' for witnesses. Guess we have no choice but to go along"

"You're right." The black haired girl turned back to Morgana. It was cute seeing the way the way her appearance in the Palace had translated to reality- no little utility belt, unfortunately. That would have been adorable. "Alright, we'll work with you."

"Excellent." Morgana got to her feet (got to her paws?). "Oh, right. There's one more thing I should tell you. If we erase a Palace, there is no doubt that the person's distorted desires will be erased as well. But desires are what we all need in order to survive. The will to eat, sleep, fall in love- all of those things."

Ryuko idly twisted the tip of her sneaker into the concrete of the rooftop. "What're you getting at?"

Morgana's voice got a bit more serious, and she looked from Ryuko to Aki. "If all of those yearnings were to vanish, they'd be no different from someone who has shut down entirely. They may even die if they're not given proper care. So-"

"Wait, die?!" Ryuko balked, taking a step back. Aki brought a hand up to cover her mouth in shock. Die…? Had she heard that right? "Would their death be our fault…?"

"I saw the way you reacted around Kamoshida in that castle." Morgana flicked her tail. "Do you have the determination to face that risk?"

Aki brought her hand down from her mouth, swallowing anxiously. The whole situation had taken a much darker turn than she'd previously expected. "Wait, we don't want to kill him…"

"Sheesh!" Morgana sighed dramatically. "I come all this way and this is what I get? It's not like anyone will ever find out."

"That's not the point!" Ryuko barked, the blonde stomping her foot down on the floor. "If we just go around secretly doin' whatever we want, we'd be no better than Kamoshida!"

"But what other option do you two have?" The cat's ears twitched as she turned around, paws carrying her in the direction of one of the fire escapes. "I'll come back later. Make sure you've made your decision by then." The outer stairwell, generally inaccessible to students, proved no problem for the cat, who leaped up and over the fence before making her exit.

The two girls were quiet for a moment, contemplating their options. Ryuko eventually broke the silence with a sigh. "We're gettin' all worked up for nothing…. Dammit. I'll try and see if I can figure out another way. Let's just get outta here."

* * *

The walk to the train station had been spent in contemplative silence between the girls, neither one seemingly having any idea on what she should tell the other. Of course, they desperately wanted Kamoshida taken down, but… murder…? Aki's stomach twisted at the thought of being responsible for the death of another human being, and judging by the blank way Ryuko stared ahead as she walked, the possibility scared her too. After a few quiet goodbyes at the station, Aki got on the train heading for Yongen.

She was starting to memorize the lines now- because there wasn't a train that went straight from Shujin to the small neighbourhood, she'd transfer in Shibuya. The ride to the main station was just as quiet for the girl, the only interruption coming from a text midway through.

 **Ryuko** : hey, i heard some stuff on my train back

 **Ryuko** : it's about that suzui girl i told u about. rumours are going around about her and kamoshida

 **Ryuko** : if theyre true its no wonder she wouldnt talk

 **Ryuko** : but it seriously doesnt feel right to me

 **Aki** : do you know anything?

 **Ryuko** : i mean, i sort of have suspicions for my own reasons, but theres other reasons to doubt this too

 **Ryuko** : ive known takamaki and suzui since middle school. theres no way in hell an old creep like that is their type

 **Aki** : so then where are these rumours coming from?

 **Ryuko** : no clue on that one

 **Ryuko** : whatever i guess. ill keep looking around

Rumours, rumours, rumours… Poor Shiho. Aki definitely didn't know her past a pleasant conversation, but from what she did know, it didn't seem like the girl would be the type to chase after someone like Kamoshida. She knew less about Ann, but since Ryuko evidently knew more about the girl than Aki did, she'd take her word for it. All of it was just… weird. There was nothing she could do about it right now, though, so it was probably wise just to get home.

Arriving in Shibuya, Aki took the usual route that would take her home, but something stopped her midway- a familiar face was mixed in with the crowd near Central Square, drawing Aki's eye. Given Ann's flashy looks, it wasn't hard to recognize her. However, the distress etched into the girl's pretty face was certainly out of the ordinary, and she looked like she was talking on the phone… Aki paused as she got closer, stopping to hear exactly what was going on over the phone to upset her so much.

"Will you please give it a rest!? I told you I'm not feeling up to it…" Ann snapped at whoever was on the other side. They must have said something to shock her, though, as her eyes suddenly widened. "Wait… What?! That's not what you promised! And you call yourself a teacher!? This has nothing to do with Shiho!" She looked like she was going to say something else, but before she could, she abruptly pulled the phone away from her ear, staring down at it. The other person must have hung up… Ann bit at her lip, suddenly crouching down and grabbing at her knees.

Shiho… Teacher… Even if those two words in the same phone call didn't set alarm bells off in Aki's head, she couldn't just ignore someone who was distressed enough to act like this in a highly populated area. Slowly approaching from the side, she crouched down herself to gently touch Ann's back. "Hey, are you alr-"

Ann clearly hadn't seen her coming, the blonde startling back from the touch and stumbling backwards as she straightened up. Aki stood up properly too, wincing as the other girl gave her a stunned look. "Wha- wait, were you listening…?"

"Not on purpose…" Aki offered her what she hoped was a sufficiently empathetic expression. "I just heard you arguing with someone. Is everything okay?"

"Well, you heard right." Ann sighed, looking down at her shoes. "But I'm fine. It's… It's nothing. Nothing at all." Her voice cracked slightly at the end, and one arm flew up to wipe at her eyes. Without any sort of warning, Ann suddenly took off, running past Aki and into the station. As the black-haired girl turned to watch the other student run down the stairwell leading to the underground accessway, she couldn't help but wonder what had happened there… She couldn't just leave her to deal with everything herself, could she? Without stopping to wonder if maybe wildly chasing another student through one of the nation's busiest train stations was a good idea, Aki took off in the same direction Ann had.

It was fortunate that the other girl had such a distinguishable haircut, as it made it easier for Aki to see her as the blonde ran forth. Chasing after her, the transfer student finally caught up with Ann as she blonde stopped to catch her breath behind a pillar in the walkway. The training in the Palace, no matter how minimal, must have paid off somewhat, as Aki was hardly winded as she reached out to touch the other girl's shoulder. Ann jerked around, brows snapping together and mouth contorting into a grimace. Her eyes were glistening with the beginning of tears. "Stop following me… Just leave me alone!"

"Takamaki-san, what's going on?" Aki's expression softened as she looked Ann in the eyes. "I'm worried for you. Is someone trying to hurt you?"

"I'm…" Ann's angry expression started to falter, lip quivering. "I don't get it… Why are you being so nice to me…?" She'd held it in pretty well up until this point, but the girl had a limit- Ann let out a choked sob, bringing her hands up to cover her face.

"We should go somewhere else…" Aki looked from side to side, realizing that they'd accidentally gained a few observers since Ann had started crying. "Come with me, okay?"

* * *

Did she ever get lucky in finding that Big Bang Burger… Aki wasn't familiar at all with Central Street aside from how to get there from the station, and it would have been incredibly embarrassing had she not known how to get to the chain restaurant. It wasn't the quietest of places, especially with how many kids seemed to flock here after school, but they'd nabbed a table in the corner, meaning they had a little bit of privacy.

For her part, Ann seemed to have calmed down considerably. She'd stopped crying, and she no longer looked like she was going to crumple into a little ball at any moment. Instead, she just looked sullen, nodding silently to the waitress who brought them their waters. "I don't have anything to talk about with you. It was just an argument…"

Aki watched the way Ann turned her head as she finished speaking, staring at the pillar beside them as if it was the most fascinating thing on the planet. Even though she probably couldn't see her, Aki nodded anyways. "It's okay if you don't want to. I just thought you might be embarrassed if you started crying in the station. But… Even if you don't want to talk, I should let you know that you called the other person a teacher, and… I was wondering if it was who I thought it might be..."

She trailed off as Ann turned back to her, though her gaze was now glued to the table in front of her, refusing to look up at Aki. "So you must have heard the rumours, then… About Mr. Kamoshida. Everyone says we're getting it on. But… That's so not true…"

Aki watched silently as Ann brought a hand up to rest against her chin, other hand toying absentmindedly with a napkin on the table. "That was him on the other line… I avoided giving him my number for the longest time. He told me to go to his place after school… You know what he wants, don't you?"

"Takamaki-san…" Aki spoke quietly, though she went completely silent as she watched Ann's free hand go from playing with the napkin to grabbing it, fist clenching tightly around the paper.

"If I turned him down, he said he'd take my friend off as a regular on the team…" Ann released the napkin, moving her hands to fold together under the table. She still didn't look up to face the other girl as her voice started wavering again. "All of this was for Shiho's sake, but I can't take it anymore… I've had enough of this! I hate him…!" Voice hitching, Ann finally looked up at Aki, tears prickling in the corners of her eyes. "But Shiho's my best friend… She's all I have left in that sorry excuse of a school! What should I do…?!"

Aki stayed silent, lips forming into a tight line as she watched Ann start to cry again. Her hands grabbed at the fabric of her skirt in frustration- what could she do about something like this…? "I'm sorry, Takamaki-san… I had no idea it was so difficult for you…"

"No, I-I'm sorry." Ann shook her head, reaching up to wipe at her tears again. "I shouldn't have asked. It's not your problem... " There was a short silence between the two girls before Ann started speaking again, head dipping down to face the table again. "What am I saying…? I've barely even talked to you before…"

"Maybe that's why?" The black-haired girl spoke softly, not wanting to startle Ann when she was this vulnerable. "We have no history together, and it's easier telling someone who's essentially a blank slate to you this sort of thing than it is an acquaintance."

Ann smiled, wiping away another tear. "Geez, you sound like a therapist… But you're probably right. Even if you're weird… Usually everyone just ignores you." She tilted her head up to look Aki up and down. "Are you really a bad person like the rumour says…? You just don't seem like it."

"Bad to the bone, for sure." Aki offered a smile in return, hoping that some humour would brighten up the heavy mood. It seemed like it worked with the way Ann smiled, snickering quietly.

"You're really bad at jokes… I just kinda had a feeling they were all exaggerations. Some of the stuff they were accusing you of was really out there." Ann paused, biting her lip. "To me, you just seemed lonely- almost like you didn't belong anywhere… We're in the same in that regard. Maybe that's why it was so easy for me to talk to you."

Aki pushed a piece of her hair back behind her ear. "I was really lonely to start with. I'm getting along well with Ryuko, which helped, but… I was really touched when I talked to Suzui-san today. She's so thoughtful… I can see why you two would be friends."

"She's amazing, isn't she?" There was something adorable in the way Ann's face lit up as Shiho was praised, even if it fell after a moment. "Shiho… I wish there was some way for me to help her. Like, if Kamoshida would just change his mind and forget everything... " She leant back against the booth seating, golden light pouring in from the window illuminating her hair.

Thinking of the Palace again… "Anything could happen." Aki shrugged, and Ann laughed, leaning forwards again.

"I wasn't asking for a serious response. But I do feel a bit better now." Rising from her seat, Ann grabbed her bag from the floor. "Sorry to leave so suddenly, but I should probably get home. My parents are overseas, and I promised I'd have a video call with them tonight. Just… Don't tell anyone what I told you, okay?"

"Of course." Aki nodded her head, smiling. "Please be safe on your way home."

"You too. Kurusu-chan…" After a moment, Ann smiled back. "It was nice meeting you." And with that, the blonde girl turned to exit the restaurant, leaving Aki alone. As she watched the automatic doors close behind the other student, Aki leant back in her chair, thinking. Ann was really a nice person- definitely not deserving of harassment from Kamoshida or rumours from the other girls.

… Well, she could think about that tonight. She needed to get home.

* * *

Hello everyone! Thank you for reading as always. I only have a few notes to make this chapter:

\- Mishima's first name was kept mostly the same, albeit with one of the U's dropped. In regards to her appearance, I designed her while imagining a really shy, meek looking girl who didn't stand out from the crowd of students too much. I'm not sure if I described her hair that well, but I thought that Mishima would definitely be the type to try and trim her own bangs and mess up so badly that she just had to keep cutting them shorter and shorter, haha. If anyone's watched BNHA here, picture Uraraka's bang length!

\- One thing that threw me about Persona 5 was that these teenage kids always texted with perfect grammar, spelling, and rarely any sort of abbreviations or slang. I'm a teenager, I'm sure a lot of the people reading this are- we know we don't usually text like that! So I decided to write the text messages into a more casual, punctuated-when-they-feel-like-it style that feels a lot more familiar to me as a teenager. Each character will have their own small typing quirks (some will actually use proper spelling and capitalization), and I hope I can better capture what it's like to text like a millennial.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated! See you next time!


	6. CH6: Then So Be It

Hi everyone! I'm back with the latest chapter, as well as the most recent one up on AO3. We're all caught up on both platforms now, yay!

Anyways, this is the Shiho chapter, so SHTF in regards to sexual content here. This is also where character's gender changes do start to make bigger changes to the overall plot, so that's just a heads up! Onto the chapter!

* * *

 _Sojiro could probably start going home before I get here_ was the first thing Aki thought as she walked into LeBlanc to see a familiar face at the counter seats. She knew he didn't fully trust her yet, especially not after she'd been mostly absent on her first day, but it was just another heavy reminder that she wasn't living a free life when she had to be checked in on to ensure she wasn't out after school. Looking up from the paper he was reading, Sojiro fixed her with a hard stare. "You're late. Where have you been?"

She'd just gotten back from comforting Ann, but explaining exactly how she'd wound up with a crying girl in a fast food restaurant would take too long, and Aki just wanted to go upstairs. "The train was delayed."

He'd been in the restaurant all day, right? No way for him to confirm that right now. Even so, he looked like he didn't believe her for a second. "I don't like being lied to." Folding up the paper, Sojiro looked as if he was about to keep questioning her about it, but he just shook his head and sighed after a moment's contemplation. "I guess it doesn't matter. You haven't been hanging around any bad influences, have you?"

Maybe others would say differently, but Aki was quite honest in her response this time. "I actually made a friend." Ryuko wasn't a bad person at all, even if the school might treat her like she was.

"Huh. They've gotta be pretty strange to want to spend time with you." Ignoring Aki's offended look, Sojiro turned to the clock on the wall, yawning as he noticed the hour. "Look at the time. Seriously, think about how I feel having to stay up here waiting for you." As Sojiro got to his feet, Aki took that as indication that she could go upstairs. Moving past the man, the girl had almost made it to the stairs when his voice called out from behind her. "Don't come back so damn late next time."

She'd been helping a distressed girl, but… she couldn't explain that without being accused of lying to get out of a scolding, could she? Aki wouldn't be able to explain anything these past few days without being told she was a liar. No, not just these past few days. Ever since she'd made the fateful decision to grab that drunk man back at home, it seemed like nobody had believed a word she'd say. She was just some delinquent brat who needed to shut up and listen to the adults when they told her not to get involved. Ryuko, Ann, herself… All three of them were in their situations because of rotten adults, weren't they?

Ducking her head down, Aki walked up the stairs.

* * *

Getting ready for bed hadn't been eventful. She'd just tried to catch up with some of her shows on her phone (listen, teenagers could enjoy Featherman too! And besides, the actress for Pink Argus was so cute under the mask…) before getting into her pajamas. Did anyone really have the impression that a quiet, glasses-wearing girl like her was the type to sneak out and party at night? Aki was every bit as unobtrusive during the evenings as she was during the day, but the rumours at Shujin persisted regardless. Flopping down on the bed, she sighed, staring up at the ceiling. She really wasn't a troublemaker, but… if what happened in the Palace was anything to go off of, maybe she really did have a rebellious heart. She'd certainly felt a bit braver ever since Arsene had manifested. She wondered if Ryuko felt the same way ever since Captain Kidd made himself known?

Speak of the devil- a buzzing noise was coming from where she'd plugged her phone in next to the bed. Rolling to one side, Aki reached over to unplug it and read the messages.

 **Ryuko** : so abt what morgana said today…

 **Ryuko** : what do u think?

 **Aki** : i think it's a bit confusing

 **Ryuko** : tell me abt it, i dont get that stealing desires stuff

 **Ryuko** : and like fuck no matter how much i hate kamoshida i dont want him to die!

 **Aki** : murder would be taking it way too far ⊙︿⊙

 **Ryuko** : i wouldnt even know what to do w/ myself if i had to live with that

 **Ryuko** : im gonna try and figure out any other way we can do this bc i dont know if i can take that risk

 **Aki** : good idea, but try and get some rest too, ok?

 **Ryuko** : i will i will

 **Ryuko** : night

 **Ryuko** : wait no one sec

 **Ryuko** : night (ᴗ˳ᴗ)

 **Ryuko** : i can text like u too yknow

 **Aki** : lol, night (¦ꒉ[▓▓]

 **Ryuko** : god damn i shoulda used that one

 **Ryuko** : u win this round kurusu but im comin for ya

 **Ryuko** : seriously tho goodnight

Aki smiled down at her phone, reaching over to plug her phone back into the wall. For such a tomboy, Ryuko could be surprisingly thoughtful. Pulling up the covers, her smile faded as she thought about the more serious part of their conversation. She didn't fully understand what Morgana had meant about 'stealing desires' either, and knowing that Kamoshida's death was very much a possibility if they screwed it up… she couldn't risk his death by doing something she didn't understand. That didn't mean they could just leave it alone though, especially not after talking to Ann today. Maybe they could get more information from Morgana, or maybe they'd get lucky and Ryuko would come up with some other way? But… it didn't look great right now.

Pursing her lips, Aki shifted under the comforter, turning her head to the wall. Kamoshida needed to be brought to justice, but she really didn't know how they could do that. Sighing, she closed her eyes, trying to forget everything for the day and just sleep. Even then, she couldn't rid her mind of the heartbreakingly miserable look she'd seen on Ann's face that day, even as she drifted into sleep.

* * *

No Velvet Room that evening, meaning when Aki woke up, she was rested. One small victory turned into two as she found that Sojiro had made her curry again! He was as gruff as always as she thanked him profusely between bites, but Aki had sworn that she'd seen a satisfied smile gracing the older man's face when he thought she wasn't looking. Still, she'd missed eating full breakfasts… Maybe she'd stop at that little grocery store nearby before coming home tonight to buy some cereals or something. It wasn't like she'd be pampered with curry every day.

Things were running smoothly up until about second period. Despite being well-rested, she couldn't help but feel as if she was going to fall asleep listening to Mr. Ushimaru drone on about the different branches of government. Her notes had started off smooth, but she was quickly losing focus and settling for doodling in the corners of her paper. That wasn't the point where things got bumpy, though. That came when she reached into her desk to grab a pencil sharpener and a furry paw reached out to bat at her fingers.

"Have you made up your mind? There's only one option, you know." Aki withheld a shriek from the scare, jolting backwards as Morgana popped her head out of the desk. Quickly looking from side to side to see if anyone had noticed her outburst, she pushed her hand to try and stuff Morgana's head back in the desk as the cat sputtered at the rough treatment. "Hey, hands off!"

"Morgana! What are you doing here?!" Aki hissed under her breath, removing her hand but still glaring down at the feline in her desk. "How'd you even get in there…?!" Raising her head, she tensed as she realized Ushimaru was now looking around in confusion.

"Hm? Did I hear a cat just now?" The older man was looking from side to side, attempting to locate the source of the noise. Morgana made a 'meep' noise as she burrowed deeper into the desk. The girls around the class started to giggle at the interruption, to which the teacher angrily hit his book on the podium. "Settle down! We're in the middle of an important lecture!"

At the very least, it seemed that he was off her case. Aki let go of a breath she didn't know she had been holding in, fully prepared to go back to work and pretend that there wasn't a cat hidden within her desk. Just as she picked up her pencil, though, her phone buzzed in her pocket. So everyone had to fuck with her at that particular moment, did they? Of course they did. Lifting the device from her jacket and holding it under her desk to avoid Ushimaru's anger (ignoring how the nosy Morgana stuck her head out to read along), Aki stared down at the unsurprising origin.

 **Ryuko** : its no use… i cant think of any other way

 **Aki** : just concentrate on class

 **Ryuko** : its gym, i skipped that shit. i cant deal with kamoshida without knowing what we should do about him

 **Ryuko** : do we just have to go along with what morgana said?

 **Ryuko** : ugh that goddamn furball

"If she only knew I was reading this too…" Morgana huffed before retreating back into the desk, leaving Aki to roll her eyes and stick her phone back in her jacket. She'd have to think it over with Ryuko later, but for now, she just needed to focus on the lecture. And so she did… for about ten minutes.

She was in the middle of a sentence about the house of councillors in the legislative branch when a loud gasp from across the room got her attention. It was the girl sitting- well, now she was standing- at the furthest right corner at the front of the room, staring out the class window. "H-Hey… What's that…?"

"Enough! This is a classroom!" Ushimaru barked, offense written all over his face at being interrupted.

Suddenly, the girl behind the first one stood up too, sounding just as shocked as she looked out the window. "Wait… She's going to jump!"

Jump…? Aki couldn't see a thing from where she was seated, but a certain girl near the front could. Mishima stood up so fast that the chair behind her fell backwards, clattering against the next desk. "Suzui-san…?"

"Shiho…?" Ann lifted her head at the name, standing up abruptly to try and see what was going on. The class gradually started to fill with confused chatter, and even as Ushimaru raised his voice for everyone to sit down, girls started moving towards the class window, opening the doors to spill into the hallway. Ann looked as if she was frozen for a moment before breaking free of her paralysis and bolting away from her seat and into the hallway. After a moment of shock, Aki stood and ran after her. What was going on…?

She turned out of the classroom door in time to see Ann shove another student out of the way to press up against the window. Aki slowed to a halt several feet behind Ann, looking out the same window to see what everyone was panicking about. Her eyes darted over grey skies and plain concrete walls before freezing on a girl standing on the edge of the roof. It was Shiho, looking small and fragile as she balanced precariously in front of the railing. Even as students started getting louder and louder in fear, Aki stayed silent, lips parted and eyes wide as she stood frozen in the hall, watching.

Shiho swayed for a moment, like a leaf in the wind, and then jumped.

* * *

"AKI!"

A hand shaking her shoulder pulled her from her daze and Aki felt a twinge of pain down her neck from how abruptly she'd twisted it towards the touch. Ryuko stared back at her, eyes wide. Aki suddenly became aware of both the way she'd been frozen in shock, the chaos surrounding her as she heard the panicked voices from both students and teachers alike. Ryuko shook her once more for good measure, looking just as frightened as everyone else around her. "Dude, you were just frozen there…! Are you okay?!"

"I'm- Yeah, I'm fine." The image of Shiho flashed through her mind, and she shuddered. She'd jumped… She'd actually jumped… Where was Ann? Aki turned her head to the far end of the hallway to watch a flash of blonde pigtails as the girl disappeared down the stairs. "Takamaki-san… We need to go after her…!"

Aki could feel Ryuko's hand shaking against her shoulder, and when she looked back, the girl was pale. For a minute, it felt like she was clutching onto the black-haired girl for support rather than trying to help Aki get back into reality. This was most likely the first time she'd seen anything like that, wasn't it…? "I- We gotta get going now then! She fell in the courtyard!"

Without waiting another second, Ryuko released Aki's shoulder, running off down the same path Ann had taken. Trying to take a moment to remind herself that she was still in reality, Aki followed closely behind. They had to weave through a tight crowd to even get outside- apparently they weren't the only ones rushing to the courtyard. However, with how many girls seemed to be holding up cell phones as Aki and Ryuko shoved through the mob outside, not everyone else was trying to get down there for noble reasons. As Ryuko pleaded for the last person to get out of the way before pushing her way past, Aki braced herself for the worst.

Instead, Shiho was alive. Barely moving and being loaded onto a stretcher, but alive.

Aki almost cried right there and then. She didn't know Shiho well, but she was so terrified that she'd just witnessed a death that the wave of relief that washed over her came with an equally powerful wave of emotion. She opened her mouth to express her relief to Ryuko- but another voice, louder than both the panicked teachers calling for the students to get back in the building plus the murmurs of the crowd of girls, caught her attention. "Shiho…!"

Ann. The blonde was only a few students to her left, hands on her face and horror evident in her voice. Right… They were best friends, weren't they…? Aki felt a pang of sympathy as she watched the pigtailed girl look on in anguish as everyone around them filmed the situation as if that wasn't a massively disrespectful breach of decency. They were treating this like some sort of spectacle to gawk at… Ryuko noticed too, judging by the way she hissed audibly. "What the hell is wrong with these people?!"

"We need someone to go with her." One of the paramedics tending to Shiho stood up, looking over at the crowd. The ponytailed girl looked so… small surrounded by all the uniformed EMTs. "Are there any teachers around?"

The few present teachers all looked at each other, none of them seemingly sure as to what they should say. Aki felt a pang of disgust rock her- what kind of adults were they? "I'll go!" Ann nearly jumped forwards, reacting with infinitely more care than the teachers around them. "I'm her best friend!"

"Please hurry!" The paramedic turned, jogging to the back of the ambulance. Ann darted forwards, falling to her knees next to the stretcher where Shiho was lying. She looked absolutely devastated as she leant in, whispering to Shiho. Aki cringed as she watched the injured girl try and lift her head, Ryuko inhaling sharply beside her at the unnatural way the girl moved.

Even if she was alive, the whole thing still felt like some sort of horrible, hazy dream. Ann's eyes widened as Shiho whispered something in return, seemingly shocked enough to raise her voice enough for the closest few students to hear. "K-Kamoshida…?!"

And there it was. Out of the corner of her eye, Aki saw Ryuko's whole body tense up, and both girls stood as still as statues among the crowd as Shiho was lifted into the back of the ambulance, Ann looking crushed as she too was helped into the back. With the horrible sight of the injured girl gone, Aki's mind abruptly became more focused on the students around her, some still filming even as the ambulance started to pull away. These vultures…! She turned to her left, almost about to reach out and smack the smartphone out of the hands of a girl next to her before a flash of a white turtleneck amidst a sea of black blazers in the same direction caught her attention. It was Mishima a few rows back, looking like… well, like she'd just witnessed a suicide attempt. Shock, horror, confusion, it was written all over her bruised face. Even so, something seemed a bit... off.

Aki had always been a perceptive girl. Maybe it came with being quiet- preferring to stick to the sidelines meant she had the opportunity to observe others in a variety of situations, and that included watching their emotional reactions to things. Perhaps it was just her own fear and need for answers after what had just transpired, but as she watched Mishima stumble as she bolted out of the crowd and back towards the school… for a moment, that expression looked like guilt to her. Aki turned back to Ryuko, only to find that the blonde had followed her gaze, watching Mishima nearly trip as she pushed open the door to the practice building. Ryuko's eyes narrowed at the girl vanishing into the building, and she turned to face Aki. "That girl… Something's up with Mishima."

Time to actually put those observational skills to use. "I think she knows something. Nobody else reacted like that." Aki pursed her lips tightly, inhaling deeply through her nose in an attempt to rid herself of her still-present shakiness ever since she'd seen Shiho step off the ledge. "Do we go after her?"

Ryuko was silent for a moment, an implacable emotion forming on her face before she nodded, expression set into one of dead seriousness. "Let's go make her talk this time."

* * *

Locating Mishima had been surprisingly easy. The volleyball player had ran into the practice building, and the two girls found her just past the door, leaning against a set of lockers and shaking silently, hands covering her face. Judging by the commotion behind them, students were returning to class, but because this was the practice building, nobody was coming through this way- meaning there was nobody to protest when Ryuko stormed over, grabbing Mishima by the wrist and all but yanking her away from the lockers. The blue haired girl yelped as she stumbled, almost bumping into Aki, who had taken up a position about ninety degrees from Ryuko. Though unintentionally, they'd essentially cornered Mishima, who looked at both of them in fear. "T-That hurt…!"

"Why'd you run like that?! Huh?!" Ryuko snarled, stomping a foot on the ground. Aki almost felt bad as she watched the other girl flinch. She seemed to have a nervous disposition in general, and this probably wasn't helping, but after what they'd seen… they couldn't risk losing information by going easy on her.

"I-I didn't run… I was just g-going to get back to class, so-" Mishima mumbled quietly, folding her hands and looking down as she took a step forwards, seemingly intending to squeeze through the two and get the hell out of dodge.

In a move so sudden that even Aki's heart skipped a beat, Ryuko slammed her fist against the lockers to her right, creating a harsh clanging noise that echoed through the emptied halls and made Mishima shriek and leap back, hands coming out in front of herself protectively. "She jumped and tried to kill herself!" The blonde haired girl shouted, that lightning flashing behind her eyes again. Aki wondered if Mishima could see, or if it was just her.

"Mishima-san," Aki spoke slowly, recalling Shiho's broken form on the ground, "Someone almost died… might actually die. Please don't be silent now. What do you know?"

"Aki's right," Ryuko seemed less enraged than she was a second ago, though her expression still held fire. "Look, we're not gonna rat you out or anything. We don't want you to get in shit over this, okay?"

Mishima's lip trembled, and Aki opened her mouth to speak again before the anxious girl suddenly grabbed her head, fingers grasping around her hair. "Suzui-san was called out by Mr. Kamoshida!" She blurted.

Ryuko looked surprised at both the girl's sudden outburst as well as this new information. "Wait, 'called out'? What do you mean?"

The blue haired girl continued to hold her head, looking down at the floor as her voice rapidly decreased in volume while it increased in distress. "I was called by him a number of times too… to the teacher's room." Aki heard the girl's voice catch as she continued to speak. "And it wasn't just me or Suzui-san. He'd nominate someone whenever he was in a bad mood and…"

She trailed off, knees starting to knock together. Ryuko inhaled deeply, speaking with a small waver in her voice. "Mishima, come on…"

Mishima raised her head to face Ryuko, cheeks red and eyes starting to water. That would have evoked enough empathy for the injured student all on its own, but what really made Aki want to throttle whoever hurt the blue haired girl was the way shame was etched all over her face. "... He'd do things to us. He'd hit us, or… t-touch us… It happened to all of us, especially when we made mistakes. But yesterday, he just called Suzui-san out of the blue… she didn't mess up or anything…! Mr. Kamoshida seemed really irritated that day, and it… I think maybe it was… worse than usual…"

Oh. Oh . Aki swallowed hard, feeling her stomach drop as she realized the implication behind Mishima's words. She heard Ryuko choke on a breath, a pregnant silence falling over the trio for nearly a full ten seconds. Aki had known about physical abuse, she'd known he'd been a creep, but she'd thought they were just dealing with a power-hungry, abusive asshole. No, they were dealing with a monster . She was now acutely aware that they were two children in over their heads. Ryuko broke the silence with a sharp hiss. "That son of a bitch …!" Mishima made a squeaking noise as she and Aki watched Ryuko suddenly turn on her heels and bolt, turning down the hallway and vanishing.

Both remaining girls seemed at a loss for words. Mishima seemed terrified over a combination of everything- the suicide, the confession, the consequences of admitting the truth- while Aki was also bearing the shock of what Mishima was implying. And while she didn't know where Ryuko was going, Aki had a feeling whatever the blonde was about to do wasn't going to end well for her. Mishima's voice broke the silence, small and afraid. "I… I think she's going to find Mr. Kamoshida…"

Aki's eyes widened instantly. They'd just learned what he was doing to girls in private, and she was still going by herself?! She turned to Mishima, opening her mouth as if to say something, but… what could she even say after that? Closing her mouth, Aki turned back and started running in the same direction Ryuko had gone, intent on catching her before she did something drastic. After a moment, she could hear Mishima's footsteps following as she came along.

* * *

Mishima's suggestion had been correct, as the following chase lead directly up to the PE faculty office. Bad leg or not, Ryuko was damn fast, and Aki only caught a final glimpse of the blonde vanishing into the office. Not missing a beat herself, she ran as quick as her legs would take her, pushing open the door with Mishima following close behind. The office itself was nearly identical to the normal faculty office, albeit smaller and with a lot more sports equipment lying around. Kamoshida was seated at his desk, turning his head at the sound of the trio entering and looking them over with mild interest. "Hm?"

He spoke so calmly and casually, which only made Ryuko's ensuring outburst sound all the louder. "You bastard! What the hell did you do to that girl!?"

"What are you talking about?" Kamoshida rolled his eyes, waving them off before turning back to his desk, picking up a pen and continuing to write. "Go back to your classrooms."

" _D_ _on't_ play dumb with me!" Ryuko's voiced cracked in rage as she raised her foot, kicking a nearby folding chair so hard that it clattered into the nearest desk and spun out. Aki cringed as the crashing sound rang through the small office, and she could hear Mishima whimper from next to her.

Kamoshida swiftly turned his head back to them, the interest from before replaced with an anger that reminded Aki of the way a dog bares its teeth as a warning before the bite. "That is enough! The hell's gotten into you?"

A small voice from beside the two Persona-users spoke up, wavering and afraid. "What you did… wasn't coaching…!" Aki turned to see Mishima, wringing her hands in front of her chest, shrinking into herself as Kamoshida turned his glare to her. "You… You ordered me to call Suzui-san here… You did something no adult should ever do to a student, didn't you…?"

Nobody was willing to say the actual word for what they were thinking, were they…? Aki couldn't blame them. Neither could she. Kamoshida got up from his chair, taking a step towards the trio with his arms crossed. Ryuko and Aki held their ground, Mishima taking one frightened step backwards as the man started to speak to her. "You're going on and on about things you have no proof of. Girls like you lie about things like this all the time. You're just making these claims because you can't be a regular on the team, right?"

"That's not what this is about…!" Mishima's voice wavered, but it grew in volume, the long-restrained anger starting to bubble to the surface. Aki turned her head back to look at the bruised student, seeing an expression full of fear- but that also carried an undercurrent of determination, something she'd never expected to see from the small, anxious girl. "We know what you did to all the girls on the team, and we know… We know what you did to Suzui-san!"

"Mishima…" As the blue-haired girl's anger had grown, Ryuko's had almost softened, sounding almost impressed over the obedient student's outburst. Kamoshida seemed less impressed, narrowing his eyes at the group.

"Even if it is exactly how you imagine it to be, hypothetically speaking… What can you do?" Kamoshida placed his hands on his hips, leaning forwards in Ryuko's direction as if his intention was to taunt her- and it probably was. Aki heard the blonde girl growl under her breath. "We just received a call from the hospital. Suzui's in a coma, and her chances of recovery are slim. How would someone like that make a statement?"

She was in a coma? Aki felt herself blanche as the seriousness of the girl's suicide attempt hit her for the second time. She heard Mishima speak from behind her, the other girl's voice having lost some of that anger after hearing the man explain that there was nothing they could do. "A coma…? That can't be…"

A sudden movement drew Aki's attention. Ryuko had tensed, shoulders raised and hands balled into fists. The blonde was shaking with anger as she stared the teacher down, hissing out her next words. "You goddamn…!"

"This again?" Kamoshida regarded Ryuko as a cruel smile spread across his face. "Do we need to have another case of 'self-defense'? Nobody would take any of you three as serious witnesses."

"You shut your mouth, you son of a bitch!" Ryuko finally snapped, stepping forwards and bringing her arm back in a swinging motion, prepared to strike. Alarm bells went off in Aki's head- if she hit him, there was no way he wasn't going to violently retaliate. Without thinking, she darted forwards, grabbing the blonde's wrist and almost getting yanked forwards by the momentum behind the attempted punch. Ryuko jerked her head to face the black haired girl, pupils dilated and mouth formed into a snarl. "Why're you stoppin' me…?!"

Aki looked Ryuko in the eyes, hoping she looked a whole lot calmer than she felt right now. If she appeared wound up by all this, there was no telling how that might escalate the situation. "You can't let this creep get to you. He wants you to hit him so he has an excuse to hurt you again!"

"Oh? You're stopping her?" Kamoshida cocked an eyebrow at Aki. Every time he so much as glanced at her, she could feel her skin crawl in revulsion. "Smart girl. Not smart enough to just be good and listen to the adults, unfortunately. But there's no need to hold back. Why not attack me, Sakamoto? Or is it that you've finally figured out your place in this world?" Aki could hear Ryuko growl, and she tightened her grip on the girl's wrist as Kamoshida laughed, turning his back to them as he returned to his chair. "Everyone present right now will be expelled. I'm reporting all of you at the next board meeting."

 _Expelled?!_ Aki gasped before she could stop herself, and she heard Mishima whimper behind her. He didn't have that sort of power, did he…?! He was just a gym teacher! But… No, if he was able to get away with abusing students due to his position, of course he'd be able to expel a trio of troublemakers. They didn't stand a chance. Ryuko sputtered in rage, though Aki could feel the pulse in the blonde's wrist start to pick up. "Wha- you can't do that!"

"Of course I can," Taking his seat, Kamoshida swivelled around to face the trio with his smug grin. "Look at yourselves. A violent criminal, a delinquent who tried to spread lies to tarnish my good standing already, and a spineless nobody who can't be a starter on my team. Who'd take anything girls like you have to say seriously?"

"P-Please don't…!" Mishima's voice came out in a staggered waver, and even without looking in her direction, Aki could tell that the blue-haired girl's face must have been contorted something fierce to match that tone. Kamoshida snorted, rolling his eyes.

"Add 'stupid' to that list of traits. To think you didn't know why I kept someone as talentless as you on the team. You whine more than anyone else, but I knew you'd never say no to _anything_ I asked you to do." Taking a moment to allow his implication to settle, the teacher continued. "And that included leaking Kurusu-kun's records."

Another silence fell over the room, the only sound the slow buzzing of an electric fan in the corner. Leaked records… Aki slowly turned to face Mishima, her own expression one of stunned bewilderment. "Mishima-san…"

She'd intended to say something else, but the words died on her lips as the blue-haired girl's expression came into view- it was the polar opposite of the growing rebellion she'd displayed only moments earlier. Her hands were covering her mouth, eyes wide and terrified as they met Aki's. Kamoshida shook his head with an airy laugh. "You act like some sort of victim even after that? How heartless. It's all over the internet, isn't it? What a terrible thing to do to poor Kurusu-kun."

Every time the man said her name, Aki felt her desire to just let go of Ryuko's wrist and symbolically give the girl permission to take a swing at this monster wearing human skin grow and grow. However, even the blonde's anger had been put on hold due to the revelations unfolding around her- Aki didn't move to grab her wrist back when the blonde slipped out of her grasp, turning to look at Mishima with a baffled, tense expression. With three pairs of eyes on her, the timid girl finally broke, falling onto her knees and covering her entire face with her hands, a muffled sob breaking through. "I-I-I didn't have a choice... ! You threatened to… to…!"

Ryuko quickly cut in, a hint of desperation (maybe to not have to hear what Mishima was about to say) seeping into her voice. "If you made her do it, it's your fault, you perv! Don't try and shift the blame!"

Kamoshida's eyes fell on Ryuko, and Aki wondered how the blonde was able to stand so firmly even in the gaze of someone like that. "Ah, Sakamoto. You're one to talk when it comes to shifting blame. Though…" He made an exaggerated motion of bringing one hand up to scratch his chin pensively. "How about we strike a deal?"

"What are you talkin' about?" Ryuko snapped, clenching her hands into fists yet again. After a moment's consideration, Aki decided to trust her to keep her cool, taking a step back to kneel down and do her best to comfort Mishima, who had continued to cry into her hands. Shit, how was she supposed to do this…? She settled for rubbing the blue haired girl's back softly, trying to be gentle in case of injuries under the turtleneck. Even so, she kept an eye on Ryuko and Kamoshida, the man smirking in the blonde's direction.

"Don't misunderstand or think of yourself too highly- you were only interesting to me because of the way you kept playing so hard to get. So why don't you get your two friends to leave so we can have a private discussion? I'll consider dropping the expulsions if you'll just sit down for a _chat._ " The last word, spoken with an infliction not dissimilar to a _purr_ of all things, made Aki's stomach lurch violently. He was confident enough in his power over this school to extort a student with an audience in sight. She heard Mishima choke on a sob from beneath her, and Ryuko… Ryuko looked like she was about to kill someone. Her aggressive posture, tightly clenched fists, newly arched back- and this time, Aki really didn't have the motivation to hold her back from attacking the teacher. But… Ryuko didn't hit him. Instead, she raised her head, staring the man down.

"... I'd take gettin' expelled a billion times over before I wasted a goddamn _second_ on you, you shitty has-been." Despite the uncharacteristically even tone, the blonde was visibly seething. "We're going to stop you from hurtin' any other kids no matter what it takes."

She didn't mean… Judging by the small gaze cast Ryuko cast back to the kneeling transfer student, that was exactly what she meant. They'd have to think about this carefully, but for now, Aki wanted to get the hell out of this creep's sight and calm Mishima down. For now, she offered a nod to Ryuko, slowly standing while gently lifting the shaking volleyball player up to her feet again. Kamoshida scoffed, turning his chair around and returning to his papers as if nothing had happened. "I wonder how a weakling like you plans on doing that. Come on back when you change your mind. Everyone comes crawling back, begging for forgiveness eventually. Same goes for you, transfer- I had hoped you'd have realized your place here."

Aki bit her tongue hard enough to taste copper to avoid saying anything. There was so much worth screaming at this man, but… This was dire enough as it was without her losing her temper and making it worse. Ryuko turned on her heel, face dark as she stormed towards the door. "C'mon. I'm gonna puke if I have to see his ugly fuckin' face for any longer."

Allowing the still crying Mishima to lean on her, Aki wasted no time in following.

* * *

The rest of the day was a blur. Ryuko had almost kicked in a locker as soon as they'd left the room (she'd likely used all her self-control back when she was trying not to hit Kamoshida, Aki theorized), startling Mishima even more. The blonde clearly needed some time to cool down, meaning Aki ended up taking the blue-haired girl to the bathroom alone to try and calm her down and help hide the fact that she'd been bawling. Understandably, the volleyball player had all but clammed up after everything- Aki could only hope that her pleas for Mishima not to do anything drastic hadn't fallen on deaf ears. If she did something to get herself hurt… Aki didn't want to think about it. She barely knew the other student, but Mishima had been through far too much.

A meeting beside the vending machines as soon as class ended (they'd actually kept classes going all day, as if anyone could actually focus) was decided upon, and as Aki quickly pushed open the door and turned the corner, she was surprised to see not only Ryuko but Morgana, the cat seated atop the table. Right, she'd been in her desk when everything happened- what had she been doing since then?

Morgana seemed to anticipate her question. "I think you were too stressed to notice that I was following you," The feline explained with a flick of her tail. "I explained it to this one already, but I saw everything. No need to fill me in."

Come to think of it, there had been some rustling amid the papers in the PE office, but the cat was spot on- Aki hadn't been in any state to care about that. Ryuko didn't waste any time as soon as Morgana finished talking, looking up from the ground. She'd been leaning against the vending machine when Aki arrived, face uncharacteristically dark, though she did seem to perk up slightly with the black haired girl's arrival. "We can't wait any longer. We gotta go to that other world and beat the shit outta that asshole!"

"We're not just beating him up, though I guess I can't blame you for wanting to." Morgana chimed in, voice taking on a slightly sympathetic infliction. "We're simply stealing his distorted desires. Can I assume you've made up your minds about this- about how he might suffer a mental shutdown?"

There was a moment of silence among the trio, the gentle electric humming of the vending machine the only noise. Ryuko spoke first. "... I have. Someone almost died because of him. I don't give a rat's ass what happens to him anymore. He doesn't deserve any sorta caution."

"I agree." Aki's resolve wouldn't let her answer any other way. "At first I thought it would be wrong to do this knowing his life could be endangered, but… To be honest, I don't care what happens to him either. Not after today."

Never before did Aki think she'd need to seriously question whether or not risking becoming a murderer was justified. She'd spent plenty of time trying to weigh the pros and cons, but up until today, she didn't have an answer. But she'd seen Suzui fall- saw her broken form splayed out in the courtyard. She'd seen the anguish on Takamaki's face, seen Mishima break down into hysterics while clinging to her in the bathroom. All because of Kamoshida's distortion. How could ignoring this be considered just by any stretch of the imagination?

If she had to have blood on her hands, then so be it.

* * *

Okay! We are now officially caught up with the AO3 version, so updates will be quite a bit more sporadic from now on. This is a suboptimal place to end this chapter, but at the time of originally writing it, I had gone almost two months without an update, so I had to end it and get something posted. Not to mention how long Ann's awakening would have made this thing... Anyways, note time!

\- I really, really tried not to pull any punches with Kamoshida, but if I'm being honest? Sexual assault is a very touchy subject for me, so writing the confrontation scene with three female characters instead of three boys was not the most comfortable experience, and I did hold back somewhat on my original plans. I still hope it was realistic and wasn't too weak! I want to continue to strive towards painting a realistic story of a group of girls going through these events

\- One of my biggest fears while writing this chapter (and while writing the story in general tbh) was that by making the emotions of characters more pronounced or exaggerated, I was coming off like I thought the characters would be more emotional because they're girls. I want to say up front that this is absolutely not the case! I don't believe any gender is more emotional on principal. When you play P5 itself, you have visuals- you can see Ryuji's angry expression, you can see Mishima's distress. You don't need fancy words or dramatic descriptions- it's just there. When I try to write those scenes, I try to really emphasize the emotion I see and try to translate powerful visuals into text. I'm not very good at it, but I do try! The extra emotion added at any point is simply to give the plain text feeling that images provide in the base game. I know I may be the only one who feared I was coming off as sexist (towards my own gender somehow? Hey, I'm nervous!) while writing this, so if you never thought that, ignore this giant note. If you did, I really hope this explanation cleared things up!

Thanks for checking this story out! I hope you'll keep reading!


	7. CH7: The Panther's Claws

_Guys, I am so, so sorry. I didn't expect for this to take nearly as long as it did, but considering I spent over a month in the psychiatric ward, I had no computer access for as long, so this got pushed WAY back. But I'm out, I'm on the mend, and I'm back with my writing! Thank you all for your reviews, I really appreciate your input!_

 _Watcher of Ways: Thank you so much! That's such a glowing review, I really appreciate it! Kamoshida's always been an awful guy, but considering the way gender changes things in real life, I felt I would have been writing a dishonest portrayal of what goes on in these situations IRL if I didn't show how he got worse. If he's unlikeable, then I did my job!_

* * *

"So we're doin' this for sure." Ryuko affirmed, pushing herself away from the vending machine. "If we just gotta get rid of his Palace… Hey, Morgana. Is getting rid of one difficult?"

"When did I ever say I've done it before?" Morgana sat up, curling her tail around her hindquarters. She looked terribly cute like that- not cute enough to keep Aki from realizing what she'd just said, though. She'd never even taken down a Palace in reality?!

Ryuko's face conveyed her shock clear as day. "Wait, _what_?! Were you just pretendin' to know?!" The cat's nose scrunched up, and she got to her paws with a huff. Before she even had the chance to give a (presumably very sassy) response, another voice broke into the conversation.

"Is it true that you're getting expelled? Everyone's talking about it…"

That voice wasn't usually so small and miserable- it took Aki a moment to even realize that voice belonged to Ann Takamaki. Turning in surprise, the black haired girl's mind briefly flittered to the fact that there was a cat sitting in the middle of the table, but she quickly got herself back on track- hopefully Ann wouldn't be paying attention to that right now. After what she'd been through today… It wouldn't be surprising.

"Expel- Motherfucker, he's at it again…!" Ryuko, now also turning to face Ann, seemed to have realized what this meant at the same time Aki did. Kamoshida had said something, hadn't he? Of course he did. The blonde Persona-user muttered what sounded like a few more expletives under her breath before raising her head, staring at Ann. "Don't tell me you came over here just to tell us that."

Ryuko's voice was sharp, and while Aki couldn't blame her for it, she knew Ann had been through too much today to deserve that treatment. Sending Ryuko a stern glance, Aki turned to face Ann, offering her a much more sympathetic look. "Takamaki-san, I… I'm sorry about what happened."

"Don't apologize. You didn't do anything." As Ann responded quietly, Aki felt her stomach twist as her gaze fell to her loafers. The pigtailed girl was right in that she didn't do anything- she hemmed and hawed and took no action despite having the power to take down Kamoshida before he drove a girl to jump off the roof. Aki'd done nothing when she should have done _something_. They had to act now for the sake of everyone he'd hurt. Feeling the familiar flicker of determination in her, Aki looked up to look Ann in the eyes- and was surprised to see a similarly intense gaze returned in the blonde's expression. "But if you're going to do something to deal with Kamoshida… I want to join you."

… Huh? Aki blinked, mouth parting slightly as she fully intended to speak, though nothing ended up coming out. Ann wanted to help them? She'd learned already that the blonde wasn't in that pseudo-relationship with Kamoshida out of her own free will, but… Why was she willing to join up with two girls supposedly bad enough to be expelled, especially after their previous interactions? Ann kept speaking, answering Aki's question for her. "I can't just sit back and do nothing after what happened to Shiho. So whatever you girls are planning- let me help."

Right… Her best friend was in the hospital because of Kamoshida. Aki felt silly for even wondering why Ann would take this risk. Tight friendships weren't something she'd ever been familiar with, but she had seen the way people did whatever it took to protect a friend. From beside her, Ryuko made a low rumbling noise before speaking clearly. "Look, Takamaki- I know you're mad, but this really doesn't have anythin' to do with you. You should just stay outta this."

Predictably, Ann didn't take that too well. Eyes turning sharp, she snapped her head to face Ryuko as her voice raised in volume. "It has everything to do with me! Shiho's my-"

Ryuko _really_ didn't like being spoken to in that tone, Aki had learned these past few days, and the transfer student watched as the girl's face contorted into a snarl and she stomped her foot. "Did you even hear me?! I said stay out of it!"

Jesus christ, this wasn't going well. Ann looked like she was about to say something else, but closed her mouth at the last moment. There was a moment of tense silence as the pigtailed blonde inhaled sharply, exhaling and giving Ryuko a cold glare. "... Out of all the people here, I thought _you'd_ understand why I can't let this go, Sakamoto."

Even if Ann had resorted to a quiet anger, Ryuko had no such inclination as she snapped back. "Don't think we're alike just because the whole school thinks we're both easy! You can't help with this, so back the hell off!" Out of the corner of her eye, Aki watched Morgana's back start to arch. Things were getting way too tense.

"Guys, stop!" _That was enough_ , Aki decided as she finally cut in, moving to get in between the two girls. It didn't seem like they'd make a move to get at each other, but the black haired student was well aware of what both of the blondes had been through today- emotions were running high, and Aki didn't want to risk someone doing something stupid. "Neither of you are helping! Just calm down and-"

She didn't get to finish before Ann took a step back. Aki's words died in her throat, the pigtailed girl giving her a stare that seemed like it was meant to be harsh, though the tears forming in the corners of her eyes ruined the effect. Before Aki could even say anything else, Ann had jerked to the side, running off and out of sight. There was a heavy silence surrounding the three left in the plaza, broken only by the sound of the side door opening and slamming. It was… pretty stupid of her to assume that Ann and Ryuko could achieve anything close to calmness after today, Aki realized belatedly as she reached up to awkwardly rub her neck. "Shit…"

"That was getting hairy," Morgana's voice finally re-entered the situation. Aki's initial presumption had been right in that Ann hadn't noticed the cat with them. Or at least she didn't say anything if she did. "Weren't you kind of harsh, Ryuko?"

The remaining blonde had stepped back as well, taking a deep breath of frustration as she leant back against the vending machine. "Whatever. Maybe. It doesn't matter, 'cause it's not like we could've explained what we're gonna do or take her somewhere like that. We just gotta hurry and deal with it."

She… had a point, if only about explaining the Palace. Best case scenario, Ann would be confused and wouldn't believe them. Worst case scenario, she would think they were messing with her on the worst day of her life. Aki couldn't even imagine taking her inside, either. It was risky enough for the three Persona users, so bringing a normal person into a world crawling full of Shadows? Hard pass. Maybe it was for the best that the flashy girl was kept in the dark, as terrible as Aki felt when she remembered Ann's expression. "... No, you're right. The best way to help her is to take care of Kamoshida. Let's get going."

* * *

 _This alley smells awful_ , Aki noted with a crinkle of her nose as she crouched next to one of the narrow brick walls in order to unzip the bag carrying Morgana. The tall walls were littered with a mess of pipes and gutters the higher you looked up, so chances were the foul odour simply came from whatever ended up getting drained down here. It was too bad that this was the entry and exit point for the Palace, but it did have the benefit of being out of the way of any peering eyes. The cat looked like she noticed the smell too, judging by the way her nose twitched for a few moments before she shook her head, staring up at the two girls. "Now, listen closely. The moment we cross over, we'll treat each other like real phantom thieves, so I hope you're ready."

Ryuko and Aki shared a brief look of confusion. Phantom thieves…? Morgana seemed to pick up on this, continuing to explain. "Our costumes are suited to the name. Elegant ladies who covertly sneak in and stylishly steal Treasure- that is what we will become!"

In the middle of thinking about whether or not a cartoonish cat would ever be considered an 'elegant lady', another thought interrupted, Aki's face lighting up with recognition over a certain word. "Oh! You mentioned being a lady thief back when we rescued you from those cells, right? And you said something about phantom thieves when we came back to see those cognitions. Is this something like that?"

"You have a good memory," Morgana swished her tail contentedly. "Lady thieves and phantom thieves are one and the same, but phantom thieves can cover both men and women. It's up to preference, really."

"I'd rather be called a phantom thief for sure," Ryuko piped in, hands stuffed in her jacket pocket. "Lady thief sounds too girly for me."

"A lady thief is especially beautiful and graceful, a truly clever noblewoman," Morgana's ear twitched as her feline smile extended just a bit more. "I guess it makes sense that

wouldn't want to be called it, Ryuko."

"Yeah- wait, what's that supposed to mean?!"

"So when do we go in?" Aki squashed that argument before it could even begin. They really didn't have time to bicker, and she didn't know if she could handle another argument between those two without pulling her damn hair out. "We just have to say the school, Kamoshida's name, and castle, right? Then we should end up in his Palace."

"That's how it worked last time, anyways." Ryuko seemed to have forgotten her anger as she recalled their goal, pulling her hand out of her pocket with phone in hand, looking down at the screen. "How's all this work, anyways? Did someone make it?"

Didn't Igor say something about that once already…? Aki pursed her lips as she tried to recall her peculiar dreams about the long-nosed man and the tiny wardens. He might have, but she couldn't remember clearly, and she felt like complicating things any further with that information right now would make things too confusing and slow the group down. She'd bring it up again when she knew for certain whether or not he'd made it. "I don't know. It doesn't even seem like it's taking up space on my phone- I checked my settings the other day, and it's not even listed."

"That's kinda creepy, but it seems useful enough. Good thing it doesn't take up space, my phone's kinda hurtin' for it right now." Ryuko nodded, seemingly alright with not knowing everything as of yet. Dark brown eyes flitted back down to her phone screen, and the girl's face focused in determination. "Now let's go show that effin' Kamoshida!"

"Let's go!" Morgana nodded as Ryuko opened up her app, and Aki prepared herself for the stomach twisting experience of entering the Palace, bracing herself as the world started to tip and turn purple, entirely unaware of the girl staring into the supposedly isolated alley.

* * *

For better or for worse, the castle looked the same as always. As Aki stared up at the imposing turrets amidst the dark sky, she noticed the faint outline of the mask she wore in her peripherals. A quick scan of her own body revealed that she was once again in that peculiar costume. It wasn't bad (she kind of liked it, honestly!), but it still was going to take some getting used to. How could she even run in heeled boots when she'd sprained her ankle trying to walk in those kitten heels back in middle school? Palace magic, probably. She'd go with that until Morgana explained further. Speaking of the devil, a black flash settled into a familiar cartoonish shape as the cat lept onto one of the (former) flowerbeds that now stood as the borderline between normal world and castle. Aki heard Ryuko's excited laugh, looking over to see the costumed blonde staring up at the castle as well. "All right! Time to get to work!"

Opening her mouth to respond, Aki was cut off before she could even begin by a confused shout coming from just the group. "What on earth is this?!"

… She'd heard that voice very, very recently. The three Persona-users spun around to see a panicked Ann Takamaki stumbling in their direction, wide eyed as she jerked her head from side to side, trying to take everything in and failing. "T-Takamaki?! What're you doing here?!" Ryuko sputtered, drawing Ann's attention in her direction.

"Wait, that voice… That fried hair… Sakamoto?!" Ann squeaked in shock, likely not even noticing the way Ryuko huffed indignantly at the hair comment. Baby blue eyes shot over to Aki, looking her up and down. "A-And are you Kurusu-chan?! What's going on?! Where are we?!"

Aki held red gloved hands out in front of her during the barrage of questions, trying to keep the pigtailed girl from panicking any longer. "Takamaki-chan, just calm down! Everything's fine, but-"

"Everything's _not_ fine!" Ann snapped, bringing a hand up to her mouth anxiously as her eyes kept darting around, seemingly unsure on what to take in. "Isn't this the school?! I was just outside that alleyway!"

Morgana's quiet caterwauling from behind her distracted Aki briefly, and she tilted her head to watch as the cat stared ahead, mesmerized by Ann. The feline might as well have had hearts floating around her head for how obvious her attraction was. Coughing briefly to get Morgana's attention back to the situation at hand, Aki almost rolled her eyes as the cat snapped back to reality, tail frizzing out briefly. "I-I see… Perhaps she was dragged in because of that app. If multiple people can enter with the person who uses it, it stands to reason it'll pull anyone nearby. So if she was outside the alley as she claims, that's how this happened."

Aki mentally kicked herself for not even considering that as a possible risk of using that strange app. Here they were, so gung-ho about the whole changing hearts business that they'd already gotten careless. That didn't seem like it spelt good news for their future. Lowering her voice, she narrowed her eyes as she spoke mostly to herself. "We really need to get her out of here before Kamoshida finds her."

They'd all seen that strange, bikini clad 'cognition' or whatever it had been called. Ann sticking around couldn't be a good idea. However, it seems like hearing the teacher's name had caught the pigtailed girl's attention, even with Aki's low tone. Ann quickly whipped her head to face her, hand coming down from her face and hovering before balling into a fist by her hips. "Wait, is this all related to Kamoshida?!"

Ryuko quickly hopped in, seemingly about as eager to disclose that information as Aki was (which is to say she was more eager to have a tooth pulled. Ann had been through enough today without having to stress about this, and they'd already made a mistake for not realizing she was being pulled in). "Look, you really gotta leave!"

"No!" Ann barked back, a sharp reaction that didn't exactly surprise Aki. There was the sound of shifting behind her, and a somewhat hesitant mewl made its way out of Morgana's mouth.

"Hey, the Shadows are going to find us if you make a scene." As the cat spoke, Ann's eyes drifted from Ryuko to directly behind Aki- and despite being wide with shock to start with, they now closely resembled dinner plates in size as she froze on the feline thief.

"No way! Oh my god, did it just talk?! It's a monster cat…!" The blonde gasped, bringing her hand right back up to cover her mouth again. Had she just not heard Morgana earlier or something? This had to be one massive shock. As the cat made a wounded noise, Ann's face twitched, going from shock to a blend of anger and panic. "What the hell is all this?! I'm not leaving until you two explain what's going on!"

Ryuko hissed, sucking the air through her teeth before turning to Aki and Morgana. "Looks like we gotta force her out… How are we supposed to do this?"

"Take her back to the place we came in. It's how it worked last time, after all." Morgana sounded glum after the 'monster cat' comment, tail drooping and big eyes turned down to the ledge she was standing on.

Aki offered the cat a sympathetic smile before turning her attentions back to Ryuko. "Alright, let's… just pull her out of her, I guess?"

Getting a nod from the skull masked girl, both thieves turned their attention to Ann, who was staring at the two of them in confusion. "What're you doing?" Ryuko offered a quick glance in Aki's direction, and the two stepped forwards and towards the increasingly irritated Ann. "I asked a question! Why are- hey, let go of my arms!"

* * *

"God, we gotta be more careful from now on." Ryuko's shoulders sagged as the group stared at the misty point where they'd all but dragged Ann out. Slender she may be, but the pigtailed girl had put up a pretty strong resistance against the two other students.

Morgana sighed, rolling her eyes. Looks like being called a monster cat had really put her in a sour mood. "You should've checked the app you used! I'm just watching, so why do I know more about it than you two?!"

"We don't know how to test it for abnormalities, it just… appeared." Aki offered a weak rebuttal, but even Ryuko seemed frustrated enough to just take the scolding and move on, so she let her voice die out at the end as the blonde started to speak once more.

"Ugh, I can't believe Takamaki found out right when we were startin' off…" Ryuko sighed, reaching up to snake a hand under her mask so she could massage her forehead. "We really gotta deal with this fast!"

"Looks like you're right for once." Ignoring Ryuko's offended glare, Morgana crossed her arms, staring off into the void where Ann had just been forced out. "That girl's name is Ann Takamaki, right? Lady Ann…"

 _... Why am I not Lady Aki?_ , the black haired girl very nearly asked with a potent mixture of about ninety percent sarcasm and ten percent offense floating through her mind. What was with this cat and her habit of ignoring the fact that she already had two perfectly pretty (well, Aki at least thought Ryuko was cute once you got past the crappy dye job, but the jury was still out on herself) girls as companions? Though the more Aki thought about it, it was probably for the best that Morgana didn't nickname her something like that- it sounded cheesy. She couldn't even imagine the title 'Lady Ryuko' without wanting to giggle a bit. Her thoughts were pushed on the back burner as the other two Thieves approached the entrance of the castle, Aki following closely behind as they stopped just under the school sign.

Morgana's ears twitched as she leant forwards, staring down the door. "The Shadows have noticed us after all that commotion. We'll need to brace ourselves." Turning around, the cat smiled as she waved a paw towards Aki. "We're counting on you, Joker!"

Aki stood in confusion for a moment before checking behind her to see if Morgana was referring to something there. Unless that flowerbed just past her was both A) named Joker and B) somehow crucial to the mission, Aki really had no idea what the cat was talking about. Ryuko seemed just as confused, tilting her head. "Joker? Is that some kinda nickname?"

Morgana huffed. "Don't refer to it in such a lame way. It's a code name! What kind of stupid phantom thief would use their real name? And there's no telling what kind of effect yelling our real names will have on the Palace, especially considering that Kamoshida knows you both. It's a safety measure."

That… Made a lot of sense, actually. Aki found herself nodding in sync with Ryuko as the blonde spoke again, asking the same question she was thinking in another moment of harmonious behaviour. "So why's she Joker, then?"

"Because she's our trump card when it comes to fighting strength," Morgana nodded, tail flicking. "Hence, Joker!"

Was she really that strong? Either way, Aki wasn't going to turn down the compliment. "That's not too bad, actually."

"So it's settled, Joker!" The cat tilted her head over to Ryuko, looking her up and down. "Okay, Ryuko. You can be… hm… Thug!"

Aki held a hand up to her mouth to cover her giggles as Ryuko squaked indignantly. "Are you pickin' a fight with me!? I'll choose my own damn codename!" Pursing her lips in thought, the blonde hummed for a moment. "Let's see… For me, it's gotta be this mask. Honestly, I actually kinda like it. What if we named me after this?"

As her giggles subsided, Aki looked over to see the skeletal mask gracing the other girl's face. It was certainly the focal point of her outfit- naming her after it wouldn't be a bad idea at all. "So would something like… I dunno, 'Skull' work?"

Ryuko's eyes lit up from behind the darkened mask, and she pumped her fist victoriously. "Ohhh! That sounds _awesome_! Yeah, I'm Skull!" Smiling brightly (upon closer inspection, Ryuko's real canines were prominent enough that they suited the sharp fangs of her mask), the blonde looked down at Morgana. "So then it's just this one's code name. Or does she need one when she's not gonna be in danger in the real world from shoutin' her name or whatever?"

"It'd still be nice if we all had code names…" Aki mused, bringing a gloved hand up to stroke her chin pensively. "It makes us feel more like a real team. Maybe we can keep it similar to her name?"

"Yeah, guess you're right." Ryuko, consciously or not, mimicked Aki's chin stroke. "How 'bout… 'Mona'?"

"Well, Joker's going to call orders, so if she thinks it's easiest to call me that, I'll go with it." Morgana nodded, seemingly satisfied enough with her name. "All right. From here on our, we're Joker, Skull, and Mona. We'll need to be absolutely thorough about using those code names from now on!"

"Understood." Aki nodded in return, watching as Ryuko bounced from one foot to another in anticipation. No, wait, back to mentally correct herself- _Skull_ bounced from one foot to another. If she was thinking their real names, what if she shouted it out? If she wanted to keep being seen as a trump card, she needed to be diligent with these sorts of things, even down to her own name. And so, shedding her schoolgirl lifestyle at the castle gates, Joker couldn't hold back a smile as she and her team started off towards the entry point.

* * *

It hadn't been a minute in the Palace before the first sign of trouble appeared. Coming out of the room that served as their entry point and turning to the right, Joker skidded to a halt as soon as she saw the huge number of Shadows standing at rapt attention, feeling a light bump followed by an 'oof' noise as Mona ran into the back of her knees. She almost smiled at the sound of Skull's muffled snicker, but the booming voice from in front of her drew her attention, leading her to dart to the leftmost wall, crouching in the shaded corner. Mona and Skull mimicked her position directly opposite to her, eyes trained on the armoured Shadows lined up inside the grand hall. Though the angle meant she couldn't see who was talking, the voice was obvious to everyone- Shadow Kamoshida.

"Those intruders the other day were quite entertaining. However, I cannot allow that trash to ransack my castle any further!" The man's voice, already sounding as if it was layered over itself, only sounded increasingly discordant by the way it boomed off the tall walls of the grand hall. "Strengthen the security! Kill them if you must, but if you can, bring them alive. I have _business_ to take care of with two of them."

" _Praise be to Kamoshida_!" Joker almost jumped at how loud the Shadows sounded as they called out in unison, banging their shields on the ground. "Find the intruders!"

"Just hearin' him pisses me off," Ryu- _No, not Ryuko! Skull_ , Joker chided herself mentally- Skull hissed angrily from the other side of the doorway. "Hey Mona. Can't we just beat the crap outta him here and call it a day?"

"Look all those soldiers, idiot!" Mona chided her, glancing up harshly. "It'd be suicide. Don't you want him to confess his sins? Beating him up now would only put our whole mission in jeopardy. We need to steal his materialized desires… His Treasure."

Skull huffed, shoulders sagging. "Fiiiiine. Then where's the Treasure?"

"Somewhere within the depths of this castle." The cat's bright blue eyes flickered with interest as the sound of marching came out from the grand hall. Aki peaked her head a bit past the doorway to see that the soldiers and Kamoshida all seemed to be taking the right exit- good for them, as the band of Persona-users were on the left. "They're clearing out, but going that way is too risky. Let's infiltrate this half of the castle while the heavy fighters are over there!"

"Sounds good to me." Joker nodded, getting to her feet and stepping out from the corner as the other two followed her. Let's see, there was a doorway to the left- looks like their route was decided. Wasting no time, she made her way over, stopping only for a moment in front of the aged golden door before pushing it open… And nearly walking right into a Shadow. Biting her tongue to keep from gasping, Joker jumped back, sliding against the wall just right of the door as she heard the Shadow mumble something in confusion.

"Shit, there's one in here too?" Skull muttered from where she was crouched just behind the black haired girl. "Can we go kick its ass?"

"Hm…" Mona's paw rested on Joker's calf as she peeked into the small room. "You know, I think I can teach you something here. When you get in there, knock the Shadow down as soon as you can. Joker, I'm leaving the timing to you."

Knock it down? She could do that. Nodding, Joker briefly took a step back before dashing around the corner, moving to the left before faking the Shadow out by darting right at the last moment, getting it square across the chest with her knife. The creature gurgled in surprise before melting into goo, the two other girls joining Joker at both sides as the Shadow reformed into a small girl, dressed in blue and flitting about on a delicate pair of wings.

"Nice one, Joker! That one's a Beguiling Girl!" Mona swung her sword out in front of her, smiling brightly. "Now listen. When you knock that thing down, you'll be able to communicate with it. Shadows are born from human souls, after all, and they might give you money or items in exchange for their life. Now, get it on the ground!"

"Got it!" Joker grinned, pulling her gun out from her coat and firing twice into the Beguiling Girl. There was a twinge in her wrist, that much was certain, but it was surprisingly easy to fire once you expected the recoil. The Shadow shrieked, spinning out like a helicopter before landing on the carpet. "Okay, everyone! Hold Up!"

Rushing in, the trio surrounded the Shadow, guns drawn and melee weapons at their hips. The Beguiling Girl was completely at their mercy, something she seemed to be acutely aware of as she let out a confused cry. "Ehhh?! You girls are the intruders King Kamoshida was talking about? I at least wanted to be defeated by some cute boys…! Ugh, it can't get any worse than this!"

"If you want to live, give me some money." _Jeez, I'm mugging this fairy thing. Maybe the people calling me a delinquent weren't actually that far off._ Joker was almost surprised by the authoritative tone she took without even thinking.

Perhaps it came with being a leader, or maybe it was Arsene's influence, but it certainly seemed to work as the Shadow perked up.

"Huh? So you'll let me live if I just give you some money?" The Beguiling Girl paused before her face fell again. "But this happened too suddenly… I don't actually have anything on me right now. I-I usually do, though! You caught me at a bad time!"

"W-What? This isn't how I was planning this to go..." Mona's voice fell, and she let out an annoyed rumbling noise. "Uh… Guess there's nothing we can do about that. I'll teach you about it later. Let's send this one to hell!"

Joker nodded, and Skull let out a triumphant hoot as they started to step back in preparation for an attack- but the Beguiling Girl shrieked, waving her tiny gloved hands in front of her. "W-Wait up, wait up! Can't we work something out? Don't kill me, please! Won't you let me go?"

As the leader, it was her job to act authoritatively, wasn't it? Joker's finger crept closer to the trigger of her pistol as she tried to come up with a sufficiently tough line. "I'll let you go... straight to hell!"

"Ugh, that sounded lame!" The Shadow rolled her eyes (maybe? Hard to tell when she didn't have any pupils) as Joker huffed, insulted. "Was that the best one-liner you could come up with? But I guess I say cheesy stuff like that all the time, so we're not all that different." Pausing, the Beguiling Girl's wing twitched. "Whoa, I feel weird… Something's happening!"

"What the- what on earth's going on?!" Mona yowled in confusion as a strange white light started to form around the Beguiling Girl's outline, rising her back to her fluttering position as she smiled brightly.

"Oh, I remember now!" She sung out. "I don't belong just to King Kamoshida! I'm an existence that drifts about in the sea of humanity's souls, not some simple creature. My real name is Pixie! I am thou, thou art I, and from now on, I'll live inside your heart!" The light turned from white to blue, overtaking the Shadow and reforming her into a mask- Joker's mask. On pure instinct, Joker reached out, the mask floating into her hand before merging with the one on her face. As it connected with her skin, a warmth overcame her- a bubbly, sweet sensation filled her mind before mellowing, mixing in with the rest of her. In the reaches of her mind, she heard Arsene chuckle as Pixie giggled, greeting the two of them properly.

"Wh-What the hell was that about?! The enemy just got sucked into Joker's mask! Is it a freakin' vacuum or something?" Skull's surprised shout tugged her out of the recess of her head, and Joker turned to see the girl with wide eyes under the darkness of her mask. She herself was stunned enough to not even comment on the vacuum thing, which said an awful lot.

Mona's tail was frizzed out, and she shook her head in confusion. "I-I have no idea! I wasn't expecting it either…"

"That girl… Pixie, I can feel her with me." Joker murmured, feeling a shift of sorts occur in her mind. "It's like she's-"

"Intruders! Halt!" The group was torn from the puzzling conversation by the angry shout of a Shadow from the doorway. Crap- they'd been snuck up on while they were talking.

"We'll talk later! Let's get ready for a fight!" Mona took an offensive stance, joined in turn by Joker and Skull. "Dirty Two-Horned Beasts, and two of them!"

Did Mona just make these names up? Joker rolled her eyes as the focused in on the horse-like Shadows, the same ones she'd been taken down by before Skull awakened. They did seem like they were covered in some sort of supernatural grime, so the name wasn't exactly inaccurate, but really! Bringing a hand up to her mask, Joker paused for a moment before calling for Arsene. No, there was… Someone else. Someone else was at the forefront of her mind. Before she knew what she was doing, she turned on her heels, tearing the mask off with a flash of blue and calling out a name- "Pixie!" The blue flames surrounded her, though the presence behind her felt significantly softer than Arsene, and a lot more mischievous. Joker smiled as she pointed at the leftmost beast. "Ravish them!"

A spurt of lightning rained down from the ceiling, knocking the first horse to the ground with a pained whinny. "Zio?! W-Wait, was that Skull?!" Mona yelped from her left. Come to think of it- that was Skull's power, wasn't it? The blonde shouted something in return, but Joker didn't hear it over the sound of her second bolt firing down, knocking both Shadows to the ground.

She could really get used to this. Joker grinned- _Aki's grin, gleeful and young-_ as she called for a Hold Up, and as soon as they were in position, stared the beasts down. She could talk to them, but… Wouldn't it be more fun to try something else? Completely on a whim, Joker bent her knees, launching herself backwards in a flip before landing right back on her heels, coat swishing dramatically along with her wild curls as she shouted an order. "Now, All-Out Attack!"

Skull and Mona, for all their shock, didn't miss a beat. A flash of colour, several quick strikes, and the beasts howled as they melted into dust. They'd won, and Pixie giggled from the back of Joker's mind, whispering 'Patra' to her before drifting back into her subconscious. A new skill…? In a repeat of last time, Skull's surprised sputtering pulled Joker back. "H-Hey, Mona! What was that all about?! What did Joker do?!"

Poor Mona- she just seemed more and more frazzled by the second. Her tail was currently puffy enough to use as a featherduster. "Wha- Joker, you just used that enemy as a Persona! You're… You're a Wild Card! I've never seen one before- I honestly thought they were just myths!"

"Wild Card…? This is all good, right?" Coming down from the exhilaration of battle, Aki could now take the time to ponder how goddamn weird this was, even by the standards of the last few days. Leaning against one of the tables, she watched as Mona gradually got her bearings back, tail smoothing out gradually.

"Of course it's good! Wild Cards are those who can hold more than one Persona. See, only one heart exists per person, so normally you're limited to one Persona per heart." Her ears gradually perked back up as she realized the benefits of this. "But you… This is incredible! That's going to give us a huge advantage in battle! Okay, both of you! Let's keep knocking enemies down so Joker can obtain new Personas!"

"I think I got it!" Skull smiled, fist pumping victoriously. "We'll hold every last one of 'em up!"

"So it's decided, then." Feeling a surge of excitement rush through her at the realization of this potential, Joker smiled too, eyes drifting towards the far door they had yet to open. "Come on, we've got a Treasure to steal!"

From where they were now, there was no way they could have sensed someone else entering the Palace...

* * *

The prowl, though slow, was going well. Inching their way through what seemed to be a sort of cellar wasn't the easiest task when it was crawling with Shadows, but their wounds were easily patched up by Pixie and Zorro, and Joker had two new Personas to try out- Jack O' Lantern and Bicorn drifted around with the other two, all melting together as she focused back on the real world. It's a good thing they'd found a safe room- her mind needed some time to settle with all these new residents, which wouldn't be the safest of options in the rest of the castle. From beside her on the table where the trio sat, Skull yawned, stretching her arms. "Man, there's even more Shadows here than before. We fought a lot just to get here, and it's- ow!"

"Stop squirming, the cut's closing!" Mona scolded, Zorro's looming figure behind her as she finished casting Dia on the nasty cut on Skull's shoulder, left by a rogue Gallows Flower (Joker really wanted to catch one of those, but no dice as of yet). "And there's only so many because you two are on his mind, and he's been provoked." Dismissing her Persona, Mona hopped up to sit next to the other two. "Still, it's a little weird how on guard he is… Because of that, we shouldn't be hasty. To steal the Treasure, we'll need to secure an infiltration route."

"Infiltration route?" Joker cocked her head, curls falling around her shoulders. Truth be told, she still wasn't entirely clear on the basics of what this 'Treasure' thing was or what they were supposed to do with it.

Luckily for them, Mona had thus proven to be trustworthy and a good source of information about this bizarre alternate world, even if she was a little bit smug with her little grin. "It's a path to the Treasure's location. We need it in order to come back and actually steal it." The grin faded a little, and she sighed, crossing her little arms. "To be honest, though, getting there with just three people will be tough… I believe we can do it, but it'd be nice if we had one more person in the group."

"Wait a minute!" Skull's voice piped in, and Joker tilted her head to see the blonde girl's eyes narrowed as she stared down the cat. "You say you don't have all your memories and whatever, but somehow you still know about all this crazy shit? How the hell did that happen?"

Hearing Mona huff and watching her hackles raise a bit, Joker quickly realized Skull had ran her mouth a bit too much. Speaking up, she waved her hand out in front of her in a casual, ever so slightly dismissive manner. "But that's a great thing for us, right? Those are some really important memories that she's held on to!"

Just as Joker had hoped, Mona's body visibly relaxed as she smiled triumphantly over in Skull's direction. "Nyehehe! It seems you're at least a step above that moron over there."

Well, she'd tried to quell the argument, but it looks like fate just wasn't having it today. Joker sighed, reaching up to scratch the back of her head as Skull huffed angrily. "Hey, don't call me a moron! You talk big, but what if it turns out you're just some stray cat in the end?"

"A stray?!" Mona yowled indignantly. "No way, that can't be it!"

Abruptly, a clunking noise from outside became audible, although the thick doorway muffled the sound somewhat. The heated conversation screeched to a (much welcomed) halt as the clunk grew into words. Someone was walking right by the safe room door, and judging by the echoey tone, it had to be a Shadow. "Now why was the princess in such an odd place? I could have sworn we were pursuing the readings of an intruder…"

"Princess…?" Skull repeated with a healthy dose of wary confusion as she hopped off the table to make for the door, pressing her ear up against it to hear better. Joker and Mona followed, and with everyone so close by, the sound of a second Shadow became clear.

"It doesn't matter now. We'll find the intruders soon enough. We must take her back to King Kamoshida!" With that, the clunking sound (Armour, Joker presumed) picked up pace until it finally vanished with the noise of a closing door.

"When they say princess… Didn't the cognitions in those volleyball uniforms mention princesses?" Joker mused aloud, looking over at the other two Persona-users for any sort of reaction. She got one (in a way) from Mona, who made a humming noise before opening the door and slipping outside.

"Don't you worry, I'll look into this. I'm an expert at stealth, so it'll only be a minute." With that, the cat vanished around the corner, leaving the other two girls alone in the room. Skull sighed, stepping back to sit down on the table again.

"All this 'princess' bullshit is startin' to make me sick. I hate this motherfucker so much." She muttered in irritation, bringing up a leg to rub at her knee idly. Come to think of it, that was the one she always seemed to have trouble bearing too much weight on… Joker realized she'd been staring, though Skull didn't seem to notice as of yet. Clearing her throat, the black-haired girl looked to the side out of politeness, staring idly at a curtain that had a questionably relationship with reality, sometimes phasing into a chalkboard.

"I can't believe you managed to put up with him for so long already. I would have gone crazy trying to deal with him for a year." Joker pursed her lips, stomach curling uncomfortably as she tried to figure out just how many years Kamoshida could have taught at Shujin. How long had he been doing this for…?

Skull shrugged, bringing her leg back down and stretching her arms out. "I kinda did go crazy at one point, so I don't deserve all that much credit. Came back to bite me in the ass, too."

People kept mentioning the blonde in an exceedingly negative light whenever she was brought up, didn't they? Joker had some seemingly disconnected stories from sources of questionable reliability, but she didn't know enough to clearly understand. What exactly had Skull gone through before she showed up…? It really wasn't her business, but-

"We got trouble!" Jesus _christ_. Joker nearly jumped out of her skin as the door swung back open, a wide eyed Mona all but sliding back into the room. "It's your friend, Lady Ann!"

"Holy crap, that scared me! Talk about fast!" Skull held a hand up to her heart as if recovering from the shock, staying like that for a moment before something seemed to hit her. "Wait, what about Takamaki?"

"She's been captured by Shadows! That hallway we passed earlier with the bars is open- she's being held in there!" Mona waved her arms above her head frantically. Joker's eyes widened- she remembered that hall, the one lined with armour. She'd dismissed it at first, but was Ann in danger…?!

Skull jumped in with the same question Joker was just about to ask as well. "Wait, what the hell? But we sent her home earlier!"

"I don't know how she did it, but the point is that she's here

she's in trouble!" Mona looked no less distressed as time went on. "Come on, we have to go save her!"

"Could she have the app…!?" Joker's eyes widened under her mask at the realization, and she nodded down at Mona. "Right. Let's go!"

"Right behind ya! Dammit, Takamaki, why can't you just stay out of these things…!?" Skull mumbled, pushing herself off the table and joining the other two as they made for the safe room door.

Getting back to the hallway wasn't as easy as they'd hoped. The trio had to fight their way through the same small room they'd come out of, now filled up with guards again. It hadn't been much of a problem either time around, but the second voyage back had the added urgency of knowing Ann was potentially in very serious, very imminent danger, so the fights were by no means invigorating or enjoyable. Wiping some of the dust from the final Shadow off her mask, Joker followed Mona as the cat lead the other two right to the doorway. Inside, a muffled shout from Ann became audible. "Seriously, I'll apologize for touching the armour without permission, okay?! Just let me go!"

"She doesn't even understand what's going on." Morgana shook her head as the trio approached the door. "Joker, come on! We have to save her!" The black haired girl nodded her head, inhaling deeply once before pushing open the door. She expected to be faced with Ann right away, most likely in some state of peril- what she didn't expect was an arching hallway with a collection of female silhouettes sprawled out on either side of the thick red carpet rolled down the middle. Coloured in pink without any sort of facial features, the girls still managed to let out various giggles and moans as they lounged about in their gym shorts, and- wait, _gym shorts_. That couldn't mean…

"This… Is _this_ what he thinks of the volleyball players who give into him?!" Joker turned her head to see Skull recoil somewhat, fist tightly clenched around the metal pipe she carried with her. Even from underneath the mask, Joker could see the girl's face turn from shock to a hardened anger, gritting her teeth. "There's so many of them… That piece of shit's gonna pay for this!"

"Agreed, but come on, we have to save Takamaki!" Joker nodded firmly, darting forwards down the hall of female figures. They had to focus on Ann before they addressed this particularly sick part of the castle. And if she was being honest? Joker couldn't bear to keep looking at one particular female figure that seemed considerably less enthusiastic than the rest, covering her chest with one hand and the other raised overhead as if she was trying to protect herself from something- one with short, choppy bangs, and hair down to her shoulders. The black haired girl found herself looking away as they passed that one, turning the corner and allowing it to vanish from her line of sight.

What greeted them as soon as they turned, though, was worse than the hallway she'd been so eager to leave. At the far end of the cavernous room, done in shades of deep red and blue, a large cross-like shape was set up like a sick centerpiece and surrounded by Shadow guards. Worse, however, was who was strapped to the large 'X'- Ann, struggling against her bindings fruitlessly as the Shadows loomed over her menacingly. Joker's heart dropped to her stomach when a flash of patterned cape caught her attention. She'd been so distracted by the peril Ann was in that she hadn't even noticed Kamoshida approaching the pigtailed girl- and considering his appearance here, the fact that she'd still missed him originally was saying something about how deeply concerning her classmate's situation was. The blonde herself seemed to be in a similar situation, so distracted by trying to escape that she only seemed to notice the teacher in the middle of yelling at the guards. "Seriously, what's going on?! I'm going to- wait, is that... _Kamoshida_!?"

"What should we do?" Skull whispered from next to Joker, having frozen right next to her as soon as they'd left the hallway. "Run in there and fight him right now?"

"There's way too many Shadows!" Mona answered the question for her, which was just fine by Joker, considering she didn't have a proper answer. She was vaguely aware that Ann was sputtering about something, but she was too focused on the cat to make out the details. "Come on, back around the corner! We'll… We'll wait until we see an opening or something!"

… Mona's pause didn't inspire much confidence, but the black haired girl simply decided to go along with it- better than running in there and getting everyone killed- and followed the cat back around the corner, Skull tagging just behind her. Peeking just their heads out (something in the back of Joker's mind idly noted how goofy this would look to anyone behind them, but she somehow doubted that the moaning volleyball cognitions cared all that much), it seemed like an awful lot had conspired in the time it took them to move to cover- Cognitive Ann stood beside Kamoshida, the real Ann's jaw nearly on the floor. Shit, they'd _really_ missed a key entrance there.

Kamoshida scoffed, shaking his head. "I can't believe you mistook someone like her for my Ann. A girl like this is nothing more than a simple slave."

"A slave?! What are you talking about?! And you still haven't told me who- no, _what_ the hell that thing is! Why does it look like me?!" Ann's voice cracked midway through, the fear slowly but surely starting to creep into her tone even as she tried to disguise it with anger. "Have you lost your mind…!?"

"It's you who's lost your mind," The Shadow chuckled darkly as he observed the bound girl. "I am the king of this castle. I can do whatever I please in this world of my desires."

"Seriously, this isn't funny at all! I don't know what happened or who these people are," Ann jerked her shoulder roughly in the direction of one of the Shadow guards, "But you need to cut this bullshit short and let me out _now_ , Kamoshida! If you don't, I'm… I'm telling the cops about everything you've done so far! You're going to be fired, you piece of trash!"

Predictably, the speedo-wearing man was unbothered by these threats, simply crossing his arms and watching Ann continue to struggle fruitlessly against her bindings. "Isn't that something? The slave thinks she can take me down. I wonder if her mind would change if she saw the last girl who tried to oppose me?"

There was the sound of high heels clicking from somewhere Joker couldn't place. "She'd realize how pointless it is to fight back."

That voice… it was docile, quiet, and still _uncomfortably familiar_. Joker could hear Skull choke on a breath next to her. "You gotta be fucking kidding me..."

Gently emerging from behind the curtains lining one side of the room, a different blonde girl slunk into the room. The familiar face made the black haired girl do a double take before the identity of the newcomer became terribly clear- it was Cognitive Ryuko. Despite her features being identical to the real one, Joker had a difficult time making the mental association between the two- for one, the real Ryuko would never have such an empty, defeated look on her face, and she'd _certainly_ never wear a skimpy maid dress like that. Joker felt her stomach churn as the cognition dutifully took her place on the other side of Kamoshida, the man wrapping one arm around her waist and the other around that of Cognitive Ann, who giggled airheadedly and leaned into the man.

The real Ann's eyes were as wide as dinner plates. "Sakamoto?! You weren't dressed like that before- no, t-that's not important! Get away from him, he's dangerous!"

"I can't do that." Cognitive Ryuko's voice, though technically identical to that of the real Ryuko's, sounded far too meek to be convincing. Even as the lecherous Shadow ran his hand down to rub the girl's rear through the fluffed fabric of the maid dress, her disturbingly empty gaze stayed fixated on Ann. "I was a rebel bested by our King, and as such my freedom is forfeit. Don't you realize the same is true for you? Perhaps you cannot be a princess, but your options are to either serve our Master or be executed."

That was where Joker accidentally allowed her awareness to slip- she was too focused on the revolting scene before her to realize Skull was growling from beside her, and when the blonde shot off like a rocket around the corner, the black haired girl was helpless to stop her. "Wha- Skull, don't!" Realizing her friend was running into certain doom if she went by herself, Joker darted forwards as well, Morgana at her heels, hoping to… she didn't actually know. Catch Skull before Kamoshida noticed her? Create a diversion so she could pull the blonde back to safety? She'd mimicked her teammate's behaviour by running off so rashly, and the girl realized her mistake as every eye in the room shot to the trio, the guards in front of Ann raising their swords and causing the pigtailed girl to yelp in fear. Joker reached out to grab Skull by her jacket collar to stop her from going any further, but it seems like the threat of hurting Ann had given even the furious delinquent second thoughts, as she'd wound up frozen in place.

"One wrong step, and she'll be in pieces," Kamoshida growled as his head snapped towards the trio, his previous smug grin replaced with a tight-lipped scowl. Cognitive Ryuko observed the three blankly, her dead eyes _deeply_ unsettling to Joker. Cognitive Ann gave an overdramatic sigh, draping herself across the man's side and resting her head on his shoulder. Joker could hear Morgana hiss quietly from her left. "What are you rogues doing back here?"

"We're here to kick your ass!" Skull barked, one hand reaching to her back to grab her shotgun before Joker's arm darted out to snatch the blonde's wrist, giving her a tense, warning look. The overeager girl gave a mutter of irritation, eyes flicking briefly to her leader, before continuing her shouting. "You got no right to do this to anyone! Let her go now!"

Kamoshida's angered expression morphed right back into one of amusement, the man snickering at the furious girl before turning his attention back to Cognitive Ryuko, who regarded the trio with a silent, blank gaze as the teacher continued to grope her. "This should be proof enough that I can do whatever I want. This is my realm, and if I want to kill unwanted pests, I have all the right to. Speaking of which…" The man's golden stare turned to the Shadows guarding the petrified Ann. "Go ahead and take care of that imposter. She's not worth the trouble to break."

"Wait, no!" Skull's anger had morphed into sudden fear, the group abruptly realizing that their focus on Kamoshida had allowed for another guard to slip in the room unnoticed, this one in shining bronze armour and wielding a much larger (much _sharper_ ) blade. If they tried rushing in on three strong enemies with the Palace owner _right there_ , there was no doubt they'd be mowed down without any contest. Joker's panicked mind tried to run through as many possibilities as she could as the guards got into position, each one proving to be infeasible. What could they do here…? In desperation, she looked over to Ann.

The pigtailed girl's head was slouched, the fear on her face having since given way to despair (not unlike the way her eyes had looked as she stepped into the ambulance with Shiho, the thief noted with a painful twinge in her chest). Her voice came out warbled. "This… This is just my punishment for what happened to Shiho, isn't it? If I had just given in, then maybe…" From where she was standing, Joker could see Ann's eyes starting to water, the blonde's lip trembling as the reality of her probable death starting to sink in. "I deserve this… Shiho, I'm so sorry…"

… That was enough. Joker- no, it had to be Aki now, she wasn't the clever thief she'd hoped she could be in this situation- couldn't just stand there like a fool and watch an innocent girl blame herself for something that _wasn't her fault_ even as she was killed. "Ann, don't you dare let him do this! Are you going to roll over and give this bastard what he wants!? That isn't the girl I've seen you be!" Stepping forwards, Aki allowed her yell to echo throughout the cavernous room. "He's going to get away with what he did to Shiho if you let him do this! Are you going to die, or are you going to bring him to justice?!"

"Huh…?" The blonde twitched as the other girl finished shouting. Aki never knew if she was saying the right thing in times like this. But as Ann's gaze slowly turned to the black haired girl, a switch seemed to flip- a spark that had so badly wanted to be an inferno had just been doused in gasoline. "... You're right. Letting this piece of shit toy with me… With the people I care about…" The girl chuckled ruefully, teary eyes hardening as she raised her head up to face the guards. "I've been such an idiot."

"It's just like I always say." Kamoshida's layered voice pierced the scene once again, as unpleasant and irritating as always. "Slaves should just behave and-"

"Shut the hell up."

Seemingly everyone in the room took a double take when they realized that came from Ann. The pigtailed girl was _seething,_ her teeth clenched as she stared Kamoshida in the eye. "I'm not going to put up with this any longer." Was Aki imagining that flicker of orange and red behind Ann's eyes? "You've _PISSED ME OFF,_ you son of a bitch!"

The flicker burst into a flame.

* * *

 _My… It's taken far too long._

Aki realized she wasn't the only one who could hear that sudden voice as she heard Ryuko gasp from her side. Ann yelped in pain, drawing the black haired girl's attention again as she watched the girl thrash violently against her bindings. Her eyes were wide- and golden. An awakening.

 _Tell me... Who is going to avenge her if you don't?_ The voice, sultry and smooth, continued on even as Ann shrieked, and twisted, fruitlessly trying to contort her body in any way that might relieve the unbelievable pain in her head. _Forgiving him was never the option. Such is the scream of the other you that dwells within._

It couldn't just be Aki- the room was definitely getting hotter, like she was standing next to an open flame. Ann's screams as she threw her weight in any direction she could were chilling, but that did nothing to dispel the heat. If anything, it just kept growing. _Now, hear your inner truth. I am thou, thou art I. We can finally forge a contract..._ With a final shriek, the girl yanked her body back against the cross before slouching down, drool dripping down her chin as her yellow eyes glowed, her warbled voice still sounding loud and clear to the Persona-users. "I hear you… Carmen…"

And just like that, her head shot up straight, blue flame encircling her face before forming into a red, catlike mask that displayed a furious gaze underneath. "You're right! No more holding back." Aki could see Kamoshida take a step back out of the corner of her eye, the sultry voice continuing to echo in her mind. _There you go. Nothing can be solved by restraining yourself_. In a single motion, Ann's wrists broke through the cuffs holding her to the cross, followed quickly by her ankles. Stumbling to the floor, the girl steadied herself on her feet as her hand fumbled for her mask. Fingers wrapping around one ear for a better grasping point, the girl cried out in pain as she started to tear, a trickle of blood pouring from her face and onto her uniform. _If you understand, then I'll gladly lend you my strength._

With a final scream that shook the room, Ann tore the mask off, and she was encased in blue flame.

* * *

The first thing to come into sight was the towering, pink figure. The huge, curvaceous being was decked out in a red and black flamenco dress, her waist covered in roses leading up to a deeply plunging neckline and a mouth holding a large cigar. Dragging two heart-headed butlers along on leashes of thorns, the Persona rested a heeled foot atop one of them as it turned to observe the room, huge black twin drills bouncing as enormous yellow and blue eyes looked out through a black cat mask.

Speaking of cat masks, Ann had transformed as well. The girl was standing below her Persona, decked out in a tight red catsuit with tall red boots. Aki might have narrowed in on the large cutout in the chest had this been any other situation, but given the way Ann was rushing to the side and kicking the sword right out of the gauntlet of a stunned Shadow, there was a lot more to notice. Leaping up and grabbing the sword in midair, the blonde girl brought it down directly on Cognitive Ann, who melted into dust directly in front of the horrified Kamoshida. Cognitive Ryuko was nowhere in sight, but judging by the sudden yelp and the identical wave of black dust that Aki- no, Joker again, she'd regained that title- saw Skull standing over with her weapon drawn as the Wild Card turned to check on her teammate, the maid had met a similar fate.

Turning her attention back to Ann, the girl was glaring at Kamoshida, who looked just about ready to piss himself as the blonde dropped the sword and approached. "You know what? I'm not just some cheap girl you can toy with, you scumbag."

"B-Bitch!" The teacher could hardly muster up any words, coming up with a lazy comment as he backed away in fear, the large bronze Shadow stepping in front of the King to protect the cowardly ruler. Ann showed no fear, and as Joker turned to give a simple nod to her teammates, Skull and Mona joined her as the trio ran to support the pigtailed girl from behind.

As a team of four, they looked immensely more intimidating, and as Ann drew her true weapon- a bright red whip, apparently- and held it at the ready, Joker did the same, gloves closing around her dagger as the other girl spoke. "You piece of trash. You stole everything from Shiho… You destroyed her… And now it's your turn!" Raising a pink gloved hand up, Ann pointed directly at Kamoshida. "I will rob you of _everything_!"

"How dare you! Enough of your insolence!" The bronze Shadow roared in anger, hitting its sword against the ground as it bubbled into black and red before transforming into… a demon on a toilet? Huh. Still not the weirdest thing Joker had seen today, and she was far too focused on the coming battle to fully acknowledge how strange it looked.

Ann didn't seem all too bothered by the way it looked, simply scoffing and entering a battle stance. "You know what? _I've_ had enough of _you_!" Giving a quick glance to the other Persona users at her sides, Joker gave her a confident smile which was quickly returned in part. Turning back to the Shadow, Ann paused for just a moment, staring down the sorry excuse for an educator hiding behind the creature before focusing back on the battle. "No one's gonna stop me now! Let's go, Carmen!"

That was cue enough. The quartet rushed in, Joker opening by unloading a clip into the Shadow, who roared in anger. "You insolent lasses, you should know your place under King Kamoshida!"

"Don't make me laugh! I know I'm not bowing to that creep for one more minute!" Ann snapped, Carmen lighting up behind her as she threw a blast of fire ('Agi', Joker could recall from her Jack O' Lantern) into the creature. That satisfying _ping_ echoed around the room as the Shadow roared, falling to the ground with a clatter as the porcelain made contact with the floor. Ann was slightly behind as the girls rushed in for a Hold Up, but she seemed to figure it out quickly, standing right in between Joker and Mona as she followed their lead in holding up her gun- a submachine gun, she was pretty certain.

The Shadow groaned in anger, and opened its' jaw to speak, but if she was being perfectly honest? Joker had heard enough from the inhabitants of this castle already. Time to tear this place up. "Ann, just follow our lead!" Calling out to the pigtailed girl, Joker allowed the rush of energy hit her, cheerfully propelling herself backwards and up to initiate the chaotic beating of the All-Out Attack.

It was over in a flash, a single Shadow weak to fire no use against the combined power of four Persona users, one of whom seemed to specialize in that element. The adrenaline starting to come down, Joker was brushing the dust off of her skirt when a movement in the corner caught her eye. Turning her head, she looked just in time to see a terrified Kamoshida escape around the corner. Judging by the way she stumbled after him, falling to one knee in her attempt, Ann had noticed him too. "Get back here, you bastard…!"

As the trio approached the fallen girl, Mona was the first to her side, worryingly looking over the girl. Skull, however, was the first to speak, sounding a mix of baffled and irritated. "Holy crap, Takamaki, how the hell did you get here in the first place?! And

did you think it was a good idea to come back?!"

Yeah, Joker was quickly learning that her new friend sometimes had her priorities out of whack (though she was willing to forgive the irritation in her voice under the assumption that the girl was still angry over her Cognition). Mona narrowed her eyes at Skull, huffing before speaking in an outraged tone. "Is that how you speak to such a lovely girl?!" Her voice did a complete 180 as she turned to Ann, resting her paw on the girl's knee. "Lady Ann, are you hurt? Do you need anything? Just say the word and-"

"Wait, 'Lady Ann'?" The pigtailed girl interrupted the cat, staring her down with a mix of confusion and bewilderment. "Okay, seriously, is this alive? Is it a doll or something? And- wait, that's not what's important here!" Placing one hand on Mona's head to steady herself and get back onto her feet, Ann ignored the cat's distressed yowl at being ignored to look at the other two girls. "Where are we? What's…. What _is_ all this?"

It was hard to blame her for being distressed, really, and Joker had opened her mouth in preparation to explain things to the best of her ability before Ann looked down at herself and yelped, stopping the black haired girl before she could even begin. "Wait, I have one of these weird outfits too?! When on earth did I put this on?"

When you compared all three outfits, Ann's was certainly the…

of the three. Joker spoke up (before the blonde could say anything else, this time) in the hopes of quelling any potential worries. "We don't really know why we get these costumes, but I think yours looks nice, Takamaki-chan."

"I mean, I do like it, it's just… weird. Everything about this whole situation is weird!" Releasing the tail, Ann turned back to Mona, giving the cat a befuddled stare. "And you! Nobody told me what you are! Seriously, can someone just-"

"Christ, we're never getting outta here at this rate," Skull sighed, rubbing her face under the mask. "'Course all this shit has to happen just when I was gettin' fired up, too! Guess we gotta go now, don't we?"

"Cut her some slack, she's clearly exhausted!" Mona snapped, leaping in between the two blondes in a way that was so unnecessarily dramatic that Joker almost laughed. "But you're at least right about one thing- a search party is no doubt on their way. We need to get going, and quick."

Yeah, a fight while having to protect an exhausted Ann didn't sound super appealing right now. "Then we shouldn't waste any time." Stepping forwards, Joker approached Ann, offering out an arm. "I know this is a lot to take in, but we really, really have to get going. We'll explain as soon as we're out."

* * *

The station had been chosen as the resting spot simply because it was far enough away from the school to not allow for anyone who might matter to listen in, though nobody seemed to have accounted for the noise level. Aki's ears had only adjusted to the increased volume of the underground walkway in time to hear the end of Ann and Ryuji's discussion about drinks. How did they adjust so fast? Maybe they were just used to it as Tokyo kids. Considering how long she'd be stuck in this city, the bespectacled girl pondered as she mumbled a quick thanks to Ryuko handing her a drink, she'd better get used to it fast.

Feeling a nudge from next to her ribs, Aki shifted her arm to allow Morgana to poke her head out of the bag. Did anyone care that she was carrying a cat here? Were pets even allowed? "Hey, Ryuko, why didn't you get me one?"

"Huh?" The boisterous girl cocked her head in confusion, crossing her arms. "You're a cat, and these are carbonated drinks."

"Are they ever…" Ann mumbled in a notably disappointed tone of voice, though perhaps she was just tired. As the blonde cracked the seal on her bottle, she looked over at the creature in Aki's bag, a small smile forming on her face. "Morgana, isn't it? It feels strange to be talking to a cat… Wait, but you said you aren't a cat earlier, right? Sorry."

"Don't apologize, it's only natural to be confused after what you've been through today." Either not noticing or completely ignoring Ryuko's incredulous look, Morgana responded to Ann with a notable pep in her voice. "Are you feeling a bit better now?"

"I mean, since you explained most of this on the way over, I do feel way less lost," Ann took a sip of her drink, face scrunching up a bit. Guess she didn't care much for Manta? "Even so, it's just a lot to take in. My power… will it actually let me fight in that other world?"

"As far as I understand, yep." Following Ann's lead, Aki took a sip of her drink, almost making the exact same expression as the blonde. Oof, she was getting too old for 1UP's violent sugar kick. "That will help us enact the change of heart we mentioned."

Ann hummed quietly, fingernails drumming the plastic bottle in a slow rhythm. "So if we do that, he'll confess all of his crimes? Something like that… are we seriously capable of it?"

Ryuko spoke up this time, stuffing her hands in her pockets and tapping her foot. She seemed to do that when she was irritated or anxious about something. "Well, the volleyball team's been keepin' quiet about this, and parents and teachers are turnin' a blind eye all for the sake of the school's reputation. And if girls like us- 'specially me or Aki- try and complain? We won't get anywhere, and things are only gonna get worse for the girls on the team. This is the only chance we have to change things, so we gotta go in full speed ahead."

The pigtailed girl was silent for a moment before turning to Ryuko, a hardened determination in her eyes. Her hand tightened around the bottle, causing a bit of the liquid inside to slosh out, but she didn't seem to notice (and probably wouldn't have cared if she did). "Then I'm helping too. He's acting like nothing happened… I'll never forgive Kamoshida for what he did to Shiho. He deserves to go down."

"Then we're on the same page." Ryuko nodded, tilting her head to face the black haired girl. "Yo, Aki. Do we let her in?"

"Definitely." Aki nodded vigorously. "I wouldn't feel right just leaving you out of this, Takamaki-chan. You deserve your revenge."

"And we need the extra manpower, to be frank." Morgana shuffled around in the bag, wrestling her front paws out so she wasn't just a talking head any longer. "Don't worry, Lady Ann, I'll be sure to protect you?"

"Aren't you sweet?" Giggling lightly at the cat's declaration, Ann turned to Ryuko with a soft smile. "I mean, even if I wasn't joining you three, I'd absolutely be going in by myself. I hope we all get along. And…"

Her smile dissipated, a serious look forming over her beautiful face. Aki could have sworn she'd seen that fire again. "I promise Kamoshida is going to atone for what he did. Not just for Shiho's sake, but for the sake of every girl he's ever hurt. Nobody else is going to suffer at his hand while I'm around."

Was this the same girl that had been crying in frustration in a Big Bang Burger just days ago? Ann's newfound determination struck a chord with Aki, and the black haired girl couldn't help but allow her lips to curve up into a smile. They weren't as different as she'd originally thought, and just as she began to ponder how she could show her own resolve, a voice she'd heard a couple times already (but that she had yet to get used to) echoed in the back of her mind…

 _I am thou, thou art I… Thou has acquired a new vow._

 _It shall become the wings of rebellion that breaketh thy chains of captivity…_

 _With the birth of the Lovers Persona, I have obtained the wings of blessing that shall lead to freedom and new power…_

* * *

"Kurusu, you have to pay attention."

Aki's blurred vision slowly returned to normal as Sae's words pulled her out of her daze for a moment. She raised an eyebrow before hissing in pain as the motion tugged on bruised skin above her eye. "... What were you saying?"

The prosectuor exhaled in frustration. "I said that I doubt acts as dangerous as the ones your group performed could be pulled off using orthodox methods. It wouldn't be odd if you had someone that was proficient in deceiving the eyes of others."

A pregnant silence filled the room as Aki allowed her head to slouch. Sae narrowed her eyes. "... If you're listening, then answer me!"

* * *

Wow. Would she ever actually get used to that happening? Aki hoped so, but she had her doubts. Luckily, she didn't seem to have missed much, as Ann was still looking at her with determination- though her hard face had softened somewhat as she returned the black haired girl's smile. "Just let me know when you guys are heading back in, okay?" She paused briefly, eyes lighting up after a beat. "Ah, wait! We don't have each other's contact information. Can we exchange numbers?"

"Oh! Yeah, of course." Rustling Morgana slightly as she reached for her phone, the three human girls held out their cellphones, plugging the new numbers and Chat IDs in. "I'll be sure to send you a message as soon as we're heading in, Takamaki-chan."

"Just call me Ann. We're teammates now, right? No need for all those formalities." Putting her phone back in her jacket pocket (how she and Ryuko got away with blatant dress code violations continued to mystify Aki), Ann smiled brightly.

Aki wouldn't admit it, but she'd been hoping the blonde would say something of the sort. Breaking down the barrier of first names created a trust she wanted to have with her team. "If that's the case, then please call me Aki, Ann."

"And call me Ryuko!" The resident tomboy chimed in with a wave.

"Morgana is just fine by me!"

"She was gonna call you that no matter what, moron. You don't have a last name!"

"Wha- just shut up, stupid!"

Watching the bickering break out between Ryuko and the cat, Ann giggled a little, turning her gaze to Aki. "Is it usually like this?"

"Yep." The black haired girl laughed, giving Morgana's bag a little shake to tear her out of the argument so that the two combative Persona users would pay attention. "We'll be counting on you from now on."

"And I'll do the same of you three!" Nodding, a few plesantries were exchanged among the quartet before Ann had to head off to catch her train, giving Morgana a little scratch behind the ears before heading off. Watching the girl go, the cat audibly sighed.

"Such a kind and considerate girl… She's so terribly brave to fight for others like that. That's a graceful woman we should all aim to become one day!" Caterwauling, Morgana could not clearly be more lovestruck.

"Jesus, dude." Rolling her eyes, Ryuko turned her head to Aki. "Anyways, should we all have some sort of meeting place for when we go into the Palace? Might save us some time if we don't gotta determine a new gathering point each time we get ready to kick some ass."

"That's not a bad idea, actually." Aki hummed, thinking it over. "... Oh! The school roof is off limits, but we can still get up there, right? It might be a private enough place for us to meet."

"An excellent idea!" Morgana shifted in the bag, turning around before all but leaping up to place her front paws on Aki's shoulder so she could get a better view. Ignoring the black haired girl's concerned mumblings about whether or not she should be so out in the open, the cat continued on. "It doesn't seem like many people go up there. And by the way, I can't contact you inside of a Palace, so I'll stay in the outside world for now. That being said, I'll need a place to stay, so…" Aki made a decidedly ungraceful 'oof' sound as Morgana used a paw to tap her in the back of the neck. "I'll stay with you!"

"Wha- hey, I'm not exactly living a free life at the moment!" The black haired girl blindly threw up the arm that wasn't holding an open soda to try and combat the unwanted taps, only to get her hand batted around in turn. She could hear Ryuko muffle a laugh as the worst battle ever continued. "My probation officer might not let you stay!"

Seemingly still stifling a laugh, the blonde girl still let out a slight snicker despite her best efforts. "Ehehe. Still, my house ain't that big, and my mom's allergic to cats, so you may be the best option."

"C'mon, Aki! It's the least you can do to repay me for training you!" Morgana finally got a good grip on the bespectacled girl's hand, only to lose it when Aki decided that the claws were apparently too much and yanked it away.

"Ugh, fine." Stuffing her slightly scratched hand in her pocket, Aki sighed. "Then you can stay with me. So I guess I'll just need to text you whenever we're gonna meet up, Ryuko?"

"I'll leave the times to you. I'm generally pretty free after school." The blonde shifted her school bag (why'd she wear it like a backpack? One of many mysteries about Ryuko Sakamoto), and looked as if she was prepared to leave before pausing. "... Hey, Aki? There's something I wanted to mention back in the Palace."

The black haired girl had been finishing up the last of the 1UP, though she paused mid sip when the other girl made her inquiry. "Hm? What is it?"

"... Those lines you used with the fairy thing were super lame." Flashing a toothy smile, Ryuko flashed an 'L' hand symbol on her forehead before turning on her heels and darting in the opposite direction. "Later!"

"Wha- get back here, you jerk!" Completely forgetting her train was the other way, Aki started off after the teasing blonde, Morgana yowling as she held on for dear life.

* * *

 _Yay, a new friend! Who is also blonde! Oh boy is this ever gonna make my narration confusing._

 _\- It took me a long time to figure out what I wanted to do with Cognitive Ryuko. I knew she wouldn't be in a bikini like Cognitive Ann- Kamoshida doesn't see her as a 'princess', after all- but it was actually really hard for me to come up with something that both accurately conveyed how Kamoshida looked at her without making it seem like I was somehow fetishizing it (remember how I said a few chapters back that I don't like needlessly sexualizing genderbent characters? That made this tricky). I eventually settled on a maid dress, perverted without being outright obscene, and hopefully showing how Kamoshida sees Ryuko- he doesn't lust after her because of her looks, but rather enjoys the "challenge" of getting this angry, rebellious girl in a situation where he feels she has no choice but to submit. He likes the power he has over her, rather than liking her. Kamoshida is an awful person, and considering the way he relishes in his control over the volleyball team… Well, you get the picture. I'm saying this here just because I'm not very confident in my ability to make things clear in-story, so I want my intentions to at least be obvious here if I failed to make them that way in the text._

 _\- I noticed people saying I copy-paste from canon a bit too much, and honestly, that's very valid and correct! I think I was really nervous about changing stuff too much at the risk of coming off as saying that Every Little Change I make is a result of the characters being female. But since I've gained more confidence, I'm trying to write more original content and change scenes up so it's not such a slog. That's just my quick disclaimer: not all changes I will make are because I assume gender would instantly change it! Sometimes I'll edit things because A) I have issues with how canon treated it, B) I want to be more original and make the story enjoyable for people who've played P5, and C) sometimes it's just fun to write new stuff! So I'm gonna be working on writing more of my own text from now on. Thank you so much for the criticism, I really do appreciate it- it helps make this story better!_

 _\- It made me so damn mad to read the P5 artbook and realize Ann was made to be uncomfortable in her outfit because "it would be cute" to put her in something embarrassing that she doesn't like, so [Final Pam voice] I take a hammer and FIX the canon._

 _Anyways, I think that's all I have for notes! Thank you all so, SO much for being patient with me while I was ill. I will try to come up with a more consistent update schedule from this point onwards, but I can't gurantee anything. Thank you for reading, leave a comment if you'd like, and I'll see you again soon!_

 _... And listen, if you don't like the story, that's fine and valid! But when I'm told I'm copypasting AND somehow still making the characters too whiny... Well, maybe it's something **else** that's suddenly making you perceive these characters as whiny. I'm sure you know what I mean. Either way, thank you all for reading!_


	8. CH8: Preparation, Prevention

Hello! I'm back with another update. Sorry this one took so long, I've been prepping for a convention (lemme know if you'll be at Anime North this weekend!) and have been crazy busy as a result. I don't have any special notes, so let's get moving!

* * *

"I seriously can't believe you missed your train chasing that moron," Morgana chided as her personal taxi turned the corner to enter the winding pathways of Yongen-Jaya. "You didn't even catch her! And now it's already getting dark out!"

"Ryuko's a track runner, and I told you I'm new to Tokyo! I promise that you'd get lost at first if the tables turned and you were the newcomer in _my_ town." Ah, fond memories of getting lost in the Junes as a toddler. And as an elementary schooler. And as a middle schooler. Aki was bad with directions and that place had an inherently chaotic feeling to it, okay?! At least that one brunet employee and the dude in the mascot suit were always nice enough to chat with her while she texted her mom to come find her. The girl dismissed the memories for now, moving a hand to gently push Morgana's head into her bag. "Look, I'm gonna hide you from my probation officer for now. Just stay quiet, okay?"

"If I must." Morgana sighed overdramatically as Aki zipped the bag over her head, prompting an eye roll from the Wild Card. Ensuring that the precious (and annoying) cargo was sufficiently hidden, the girl pushed open the door to Leblanc.

As per usual, Sojiro was standing behind the counter, cigarette in hand. The man gave her a disinterested glance before returning to his smoke. "Store's still open. Go upstairs."

Sighing, Aki nodded silently and started to walk, though something caught her eye partway across the store. Seated in one of the booths was a very pretty woman, perhaps in her thirties, decked out in fashion that reminded Aki of the goth-y magazines she'd sometimes pass by in the bookstore on her way to the manga section. It suited her really well, and her heavy makeup only served to enhance her features. Feet slowing to a stop, the student had paused to get a better look at the stylish customer before she'd even realized it. The woman, however, seemed to figure out that she was being watched very quickly, brown eyes flicking over to the observer. "... Yes?"

"Hey, lay off the customers!" Sojiro's irritated order startled Aki out of her daze. She quickly mumbled an apology with a shallow bow before almost tripping over her feet as she backed up. The man sighed, and Aki could see him rub his forehead out of the corner of her eye. "Sorry, doctor."

"Oh, it's fine." The woman waved her hand dismissively as she got to her feet, reaching into her spider-print purse to take out a few bills, which she left on the table. "I was just about to leave, anyways. Wonderful coffee as always, Sakura-san."

And once again, Aki was staring, although this time it was in the much less obvious direction of the woman's (the doctor's?) shoes. How could she even walk in heels so high...!? Sojiro nodded in the stylish doctor's direction, wishing her a good night as she exited. Sighing, he turned to Aki, the girl standing there like a fool again. "Don't bother the customers while we're open. That woman is the head doctor at the clinic down the street, so if you're sick, you'll likely be visiting her. No need to make someone like that irritated with you."

"Sorry, Sakura-san. I didn't realize I was looking." Once again, Aki offered a shallow bow. "I'm just… not really used to seeing people dressed like that." Sure, she'd give that as the reason she was looking. The other thing wasn't his business.

Surprisingly, the man actually looked a bit amused. "Ah, that's right. Tokyo styles must not be too prevalent in Yamanashi. Well, it suits someone like her. Reportedly, she sells some pretty weird homemade medicines. It's just hearsay, though." He didn't seem that old, but he sure did ramble like a grandpa. Just as soon as it had arrived, though, the amused expression had slipped away to leave Sojiro looking gruff as always. "I'm gonna clean up down here. Go on upstairs."

Homemade medicines… did Aki really want to go to a doctor like that? Hopefully she just wouldn't get sick this year. "Ah, alright. Goodnight, Sakura-san." This time, she didn't wait for a response before turning to head up the stairs. She probably wasn't going to get one, anyways.

"You live in a real dump!" Morgana meowed in irritation as she examined the room she'd just been released into, tentatively stepping around the unmade bed. "Seriously, what is this place?!"

"It's the attic of a cafe," Aki shrugged, stretching her arms out behind her head. "I mean, I'm on probation, so it figures it was gonna be kind of crappy."

"Still, this is just-"

"I thought I heard meowing!" The black haired girl and the cat jumped in unison as an angry male voice interrupted the conversation. Spinning on her heels, Aki was met with a very angry Sojiro marching up the stairs. His eyes fell on Morgana and narrowed. "Why on earth did you bring that thing here?"

Oh, shit. If Morgana got kicked out of the house, Aki'd never hear the end of it. _Do something, dummy!_ "It… She was abandoned!" Quick, puppy dog eyes activate! Aki put on her best 'miserable teenage girl' face, one she'd had a looooot of time to become familiar with these past few months. "She was shivering on the side of the road… I couldn't just leave her there!"

It looks like her attempts at evoking sympathy worked, Sojiro's angry expression softening somewhat as his eyes fell on the cat. "That's… That's a shame." Still, it hadn't completely vanished, and he raised an eyebrow as his eyes flicked from the cat to Aki. "Look, this place is a restaurant. You can't just keep an animal here, do you understand? There's health and safety policies in place for a reason."

"Sakura-san…" Quick, crank up the desolate expression! Bite your lip! Wring your hands! Pigeon toes! Walk walk fashion baby! Maybe not that last one! Likely realizing the act Aki was putting on, Morgana played along, releasing a pitiful, whimpering meow. Resistance against a sight this cute was impossible, and Sojiro's face finally fell, the man letting out a sigh.

"Well, I suppose you might behave if you have a pet to take care of…" Aki may have gone from miserable to overwhelmingly happy too fast, as the man quickly followed up with, "But you'd better keep it quiet when the place is open, and it's out on the streets if I catch it roaming downstairs. Got it?"

"Yes, definitely! Thank you so, so much, Sakura-san!" God damn, Arsene had to proud at the amount of trickery his host was putting on the table. Smiling brightly and bowing deeply, Aki started wondering if it might actually be fun to have Morgana around. She liked cats, and maybe she'd eat the spiders if they came back…? Eh, best not to wish for too much.

Sojiro almost looked embarrassed, diverting his eyes from the bundle of joy in front of him. "Taking care of it is going to be your responsibility, so don't slack." With that, the man quickly turned on his heels, sighing audibly as he made his way back down the stairs.

"Excellent performance, Aki!" Morgana praised, sitting up straighter on the bed. "Is that the ruler of this place?"

"Hey, that meowing wasn't too shabby. And I guess that's one way to look at it?" The black haired girl shrugged, slipping off her loafers and placing them beside her bed. She wasn't used to taking off her shoes after she entered the house, but considering that it was a public establishment, it couldn't really be helped. "That's Sojiro Sakura. He owns this cafe, and he's my probation officer."

"He seems surprisingly sympathetic for someone who keeps you up in this dump," The cat looked from side to side, her nose wriggling a bit in disgust. "When was it last cleaned?"

"Very recently, actually. I just haven't picked up some of the stuff that was up here before I-"

Interruptions Two: Electric Boogaloo. God, she loved that stupid joke. Sojiro's footsteps could be heard walking back up, and Aki turned to see the man returning with what appeared to be a plate of fish leftovers. "Seriously, it had to keep calling out in that cute little voice…"

Though the man did his best to seem annoyed as he placed the dish down on the mattress, Aki noticed the way his eyes softened as Morgana leant over to try a piece, his mouth restraining a smile. And before she knew it, she was smiling too. "Should I wash that dish afterwards, Sakura-san?"

"Unless you want fish stinking up your room, yes." Taking a break from watching Morgana eat eagerly, Sojiro turned his attentions to his charge. "Say, have you decided on a name?"

"Yes, she's Morgana," Aki responded, realizing as soon as she said it how odd of a name that was for a cat. "... I named her after one my family used to have."

"Your family has odd tastes when it comes to naming animals." Sojiro shrugged, although there was a hint of disappointment in his eyes. "I'm going to head home, it's late." As the man turned to leave, Aki could have sworn she'd heard a quiet 'hoped I'd get to name her' from the cafe owner as he made his way down the stairs.

When the sound of a restaurant door closing could be heard and the trickles of light from downstairs were extinguished, Morgana looked up at Aki, a smug smile on her snout. "Looks like the chief likes me better than you."

"If I was a cat as well, I'm sure we'd be even." Aki was kind of catlike in the way that she had fluffy hair, was good at entering rooms quietly, and had a remarkable propensity for knocking shit off tables, but those probably weren't enough to endear her to Sojiro. Also, the last thing was usually an accident.

"I'm not a cat, but even if I was, I'd beat you either way!" Finishing up her meal, Morgana stretched out, satisfied. "Even though it's messy, this place is heavenly compared to Kamoshida's cells. And…" She paused her stretch, tilting her head to look at Aki as her back straightened out. "... Do you guys remember asking me what I was before?"

"Yeah. Why?"

Morgana sat up properly, tail curling around her hindquarters. "If I'm being honest… I don't remember anything about my birth, or who I was prior to winding up in that Palace. I think the distortions of the Metaverse made me lose both my memories and my true form."

"I didn't realize something like that was possible…" Aki murmured in thought, starting to unbutton her blazer as she got prepared for the night. "Could your true form be a human, then?"

"It has to be!" Ears flicking, Morgana nodded. "Why else would I be able to talk like this and hold a Persona? There's no doubt those distortions caused me to lose my body. Once we purge them, I'm sure I'll be able to get my memories and human form back. I've got a pretty good idea on how to do it, too. I'm pretty sure that was why I was in the castle in the first place."

Man, there was an awful lot Aki didn't know about the Metaverse and what it contained… Noticing the girl's worried expression as she slid her jacket off her shoulders, Morgana made a light meowing noise. "Hey, just so you know, you taking care of me won't be for nothing. This is a give and take relationship. I have quite the knowledge of infiltration tools."

"Infiltration tools?" Aki cocked her head, pausing as she folded the jacket to place at the foot of her bed for the next day.

"Hey, I can't tell you more unless we settle on a deal!" Morgana flicked her tail. "It's high-level information suitable for a master thief like myself. Not just any old wannabe gets to hear it! So in exchange for you letting me stay here, I'll let you in on the art of infiltration tools. How's that for a great deal?"

The not-a-cat's way of describing it was almost definitely overdramatic, but given the way she'd basically taken over as their guide for all Palace-related things, whatever she was describing would no doubt be useful. It would be silly not to take her up on it. "So be it, then. It's a deal!"

"Excellent answer!" As Morgana gave her best smile, Aki couldn't help but smile right back- and not just because she was an extremely cute cat (cat thing?). They'd certainly gone a long way from debating whether or not to let her out of Kamoshida's cells, hadn't they? Hopefully, things would only improve from here on out. As she ruminated over what these 'infiltration tools' could be useful for, a whisper caressed the back of her mind just like it had done at the train station earlier that day.

 _I am thou, thou art I… Thou hast acquired a new vow._

 _It shall become the wings of rebellion that breaketh thy chains of captivity._

 _With the birth of the Magician Persona, I have obtained the winds of blessing that shall lead to freedom and new power..._

* * *

"Kurusu, if you fall unconscious, I'll have to leave and allow the officers to return."

Sae's tone was far from threatening- it was merely a statement, one that was both true and highly disturbing to Aki, who managed to life her head up from where she'd briefly slumped onto the desk. "... I won't fall asleep."

"For your own safety, I genuinely hope you don't." Sae mumbled under her breath as she flipped through her book. "Skillful infiltrations and escapes from all manner of places… We're considering the possibility that you used special tools and knew someone who manufactured them."

Aki snorted quietly. "Good luck arresting _that_ person."

"This is no time for jokes!" Sae's glare snapped back from her pages to Aki. "Who was it? Answer me!"

* * *

… Was that voice supposed to make the hairs on the back of her neck stand up? Because it did. Scratching the back of her neck instinctively, Aki almost missed Morgana's next comment. "Now, I'll teach you all about the infiltration tools over time. A great thief isn't made overnight, even if you do have that impressive power."

"Oh, right. Wild Card or something like that?" Taking her hand off her neck, Aki went to remove her glasses, reaching for the bag Morgana had recently been toted around in to grab her case.

"That's correct!" Morgana shifted slightly to allow Aki easier access to the bag. "To reach your full potential, you'll need to mind your actions in the real world as well as in Palaces. Personas are born from the strength in our hearts, after all, so you'll need to have experiences that will lead to you developing that strength. I'll come along with you wherever you go from now on to guide you through the process."

Blowing the cat hair off the glasses case (how damn much did Morgana shed in there?!), Aki hummed while placing the black frames inside. Did this mean she'd have to tote the cat everywhere like foreign celebrities did with their little dogs? Part of it sounded decidedly unappetizing, but then again, she'd need the guidance the feline could provide. "Okay, then it's a deal. You done with that plate?"

"Yep," Morgana nodded as Aki lifted the now-empty plate of food off the bed. "I expect great things from you from now on- starting with washing that plate!"

Rolling her eyes, the black-haired girl chuckled as she turned to descend the stairs. "Of course, mademoiselle."

* * *

The banter with Morgana had been a much-needed moment of levity today, but Aki still had a troubled feeling inching into her mind. It had started right after they'd confronted Kamoshida in the faculty room, but because of the whirlwind that was the infiltration and Ann's awakening, it had been shoved to the bottom of her list of priorities. But they weren't in that overwhelming palace anymore- she was curled up in her bed within her shabby bedroom, alone except for the cat lying next to her feet. For better or for worse, other thoughts were filling her mind.

… Maybe she should tackle one thing that had been bothering her since she arrived at Shujin. Mishima had leaked her criminal record, so she at least knew _how_ people knew about her past now, but she'd still wondered exactly _what_ they knew and how the truth became so distorted. People were saying she was a drug dealer, a compensated dater, an arsonist- if the crime existed, she'd apparently done it. Aki honestly wouldn't be surprised if they started buzzing about how she was secretly a yakuza boss or something. If she wasn't so fed up with the whole thing, the concept of a grizzled, tough version of herself sitting at a desk guarded by a bunch of bodyguards would have made her laugh.

Now, this wasn't going to help her at all- in fact, reading up on her case was probably an _awful_ idea- but curiosity was getting to her. What exactly had been said to make the school body fear her so much?

Looking to the foot of her bed where Morgana was currently captivated with her copy of The Great Thief (it was so strange watching a cat read… She hoped the librarian wouldn't notice the light water damage sustained from the way Morgana turned each page with her mouth), Aki reached over to where she'd placed her phone, opening up her browser window and typing her name in the search bar. Let's see… Twitter account ( _cleared it before coming here, but I held onto the name_ ), the LinkedIn page of an Aki Kurusu that was decidedly not her ( _sorry I dragged you into this mess, thirty year old graphic designer Aki_ ), and… a tidal wave of 2ch threads ( _well, shit_ ).

 _Tokyo's prestigious Shujin Academy is accepting a violent delinquent?! Name and pictures leaked!_

 _Dangerous criminal amongst a sea of pure flowers? Elite Tokyo girl's school accepts student with assault record!_

 _the mugshot of this delinquent girl going to shujin is too funny wwww_

… With all those overhyped titles, she would be able to tell it was 2ch even without the URL to guide her. Aki pursed her lips, tapping on the third thread to see exactly what warranted the worst title out of all of them. She really wished she hadn't right after- Aki realized she'd never even seen her mugshot until now, having avoided every possible thing to do with the case. Now, though…

God, she looked _pathetic_. She was wearing her old high school uniform, the black sailor top and yellow ribbon somewhat obscured by the way she held up the damning signboard. This was before she started wearing low braids, back when she stuck with high pigtails, and she was now acutely aware of the way the girlish hairstyle and uniform contrasted with the seriousness of the mugshot. Her glasses had fallen and broken when the police yanked her into the car, so they were nowhere to be seen, leaving her face all the more exposed. Worst of all was her expression- her cheeks shone brightly from the way the tear tracks had stained them, and her wide grey eyes were red from the sobbing she'd been doing all the way to the station. She was biting at her lip, obviously in the intent of holding back even more tears. And the reason that the entire world could now get a voyeuristic look at the worst moment of Aki's life? Because some ephebophile of a teacher apparently intended to isolate her and send her running into his arms. She wanted to scream. She should have just closed the browser, but her eyes had shot to the comments in the thread before she could stop herself.

 _wwwwww so much for the tough girl_

 _So you can assault someone and still have the gall to cry? Awful._

 _the despairing look on someone like her is kind of hot. any more pics?_

 _she doesn't look like the violent type, but if she was convicted then shes gotta be_

 _omg i think she wound up in my class….. fml_

 _Aki Kurusu was the name, right? I googled her and found a couple more threads with this picture._

 _i fapped to this wwww_

"Dammit!"

Gross, gross, _gross_! Aki cursed loudly before she knew what she was doing, clicking out of the tab and and yanking the covers over her head as if being unseen by the world in this moment could somehow take away the hundreds of people who'd now seen her at the worst moment of her life. She heard Morgana meow as the blankets shifted, feeling the cat stand up. Right, she'd interrupted her reading… "Aki? Everything okay?"

"No, not really." The girl's voice was muffled from under the blankets. "Just mad about Kamoshida, I guess." It wasn't totally a lie.

The feeling of paws moving around plus the sudden thump next to the bed indicated that the book had probably been knocked to the floor. Aki couldn't get too mad about it when she considered that Morgana didn't have any hands. "I can understand why you're angry. He's scum through and through, but you can't let him get to you."

"... I'll do my best." Aki became acutely aware of how pathetic that must have sounded. "I'm just going to do some stuff on my phone and go to bed, okay?"

"Fine by me." Four tiny paws circled around at the end of the bed near Aki's feet before settling up next to her, close enough to provide a feeling of warmth. "Make sure you do sleep."

Nodding to the cat who most definitely wouldn't be able to see the gesture, Aki paused and stared ahead at her screen, as if looking at it for long enough would reveal the answer to all her problems. After a moment, she bit her lip, opening the messages app and heading to the chat that she had with her parents- one that had dried up almost instantly after her arrival in Tokyo. There were new messages, but they were all from her, and had mainly received one word or no replies. More frequently the latter. Scrolling up a bit would have allowed her to see the last text sent before her life turned to hell, one from her father asking if she needed an umbrella on that evening she'd be walking home late from cram school- but she wasn't going to look at that. No, she'd spent enough time bitter and miserable thinking about her parents enough. Quickly exiting that chat, Aki opened a much more recent one. 

**Aki** : you guys in bed yet?

 **Ryuko** : nah not yet

 **Ann** : me neither

 **Aki** : guess it isnt too late all things considered

 **Aki** : anyways i just wanted to hop in to say that i'm seriously happy to have both of you here

 **Aki** : id really been hopeless heading into this year and its nothing short of a goddamn miracle that all this happened and that i met two other people kinda like me

 **Aki** : and knowing we can actually change things for everyones' sake is just… amazing

 **Aki** : idk where im going with this lmao, words arent really my strong suit

 **Aki** : point is: i think we're really getting the ball rolling now that ann's here, and i cant help but get all fired up thinking about how we're gonna make sure he pays for what he did

 **Aki** : who's ready to kick some shadow ass? (((c=(ﾟﾛﾟ;q

 **Ann** : i am!

 **Ryuko** : u already know my answer

 **Aki** : hell yeah!

 **Ann** : seriously, i'm happy too. you both really saved me today

 **Aki** : honestly, you saved yourself, ann!

 **Ryuko** : yeah! i dont get all the details behind this stuff but im p sure that if u didnt face your problem we all would have been super screwed

 **Ann** : even so, i couldnt have done it without people there to back me up, so thank you

 **Ann** : now im all fired up too! kamoshidas going down! ( ･o･)っ≡つ

 **Aki** : ! EMOJI FRIEND

 **Ann** : (づ￣ ³￣)づ hooray!

 **Ryuko** : theres two people like this in here now?!

 **Ann** : haha! we'll convert you eventually, ryuko!

 **Aki** : (・ω) come join the fun

 **Ryuko** : NO! 

… It had taken Aki a moment to realize she was smiling again. Even though she'd really only met the true Ann today (and Ryuko was pretty damn new, too), there was this undeniable sense of closeness- a bond true enough to already work wonders on her mood even when she had genuine reason to be hurting. This had to be those 'Confidant' things Igor had been speaking about, right? Aki wasn't exactly full of experience with friendship, but she was certain they weren't supposed to make you feel so comfy this quick. It wasn't as though the belated realization of how public her messy arrest was had been entirely erased from her mind, but it certainly felt a lot less heavy.

Shuffling out to plug her phone into the wall again, Aki exchanged a 'goodnight' with Morgana (who seemed to have found a comfortable spot near the end of the mattress) before shuffling under the covers. As she was just at the edge of sleep, the girl could have sworn she'd heard the tail end of a nearly flirtatious conversation between Arsène and Pixie within the recesses of her mind, but-

By then, sleep had claimed her, and her thoughts melted away into her dreams.

* * *

Despite still feeling achy the next morning, some deity had clearly blessed Aki- she managed to snag a seat on the train for once! Sure, it was still too cramped for comfort, but being able to sit down was doing wonders for her mood. At Morgana's suggestion, she spent the ride thumbing through The Great Thief (while pretending not to notice how there was the occasional tooth mark on a page). Once she got past all the archaic language, it was actually a pretty good book. Unfortunately, said language meant she only got through half of it by the time the train drew to a stop, meaning she had to hastily stuff the book next to Morgana as she prepared to rise.

Even with her mood raised, the tension at school was thick enough to keep Aki on edge- and not just the tension that came from sweating anxiously through class out of worry that someone would notice the cat hiding in her desk. There was a much bigger reason for the stagnant air around the school- What kind of place would seriously hold classes the day after a suicide attempt? Shujin, apparently, and as a painful stick of chalk smacked her in the forehead as she tried to sneak a glance at her phone, she could tell the teachers were just as ornery as ever. Maybe that was them just trying to keep up a facade of normalcy for the sake of the students…? It clearly wasn't working if that's truly what they were attempting to do- as Aki ate lunch with Ann in the classroom, the only topic that seemed to be of any interest around the classroom was Shiho Suzui. Even as Ann kept a normal expression while she ate, she was clearly having an extremely difficult time overhearing all of the (often absurd) theories about why the volleyball player might have done it. Despite finally having someone to eat with, it was possibly the most uncomfortable lunch the black-haired girl had experienced since coming to Tokyo.

As they'd all agreed to do, the trio met on top of the school roof as soon as the final bell rang. Aki was genuinely shocked to learn that the door to the roof was still unlocked- it made her kind of mad, honestly. _A girl just tried to commit suicide here, what kind of negligence…?_ \- but she had to admit that it was probably for the best that they didn't have to reorganize their meeting place. Greeting the two blondes as she settled into one of the chairs strewn about, Aki placed her bag on her table to give Morgana a steady place to exit onto.

Ryuko was the first to speak, nodding curtly as she looked over the group. "So we're all here. Let's get goin', yeah?"

"Hold on." Morgana finished stepping out of the bag. "It's too early for us to go to the Palace. If we headed in right now, we'd be seriously underestimating our enemies. We need to prepare."

Aki cocked her head. "But we have our Personas. What else do we need?"

"That kind of thinking will get you killed in there, y'know!" Morgana rolled her eyes overdramatically. "What if we get hurt, for example? You can only heal so much using a Persona until it runs out of power. On top of that, if our spells don't work against certain Shadows, we need to have weapons that deal better damage."

"Weapons?" Ryuko perked up, having previously looked a bit miffed at the realization that they wouldn't be going into the Palace. "I know a kick-ass place!"

"In that case, you can handle that side of things." Morgana nodded while Ann made a confused noise at the other blonde's weapons comment. "That just leaves medication. Aki and I know just the place to get that!"

"... Do we?"

"We do! Remember that doctor in Yongen? We're going to see her about it!" Ignoring Aki's protests over going to see a sketchy medical professional, Morgana stretched out once more before moving to get back into the bag. "No time to waste, then! Meeting adjourned- let's get going, Aki."

"You really call the shots around here, don't you, Morgana?" Ann laughed, getting to her feet. The cat puffed up with pride at the girl's comment.

"Of course I do- I'm an expert, after all!"

"Yeah, yeah." Ryuko rolled her eyes, getting to her feet. "Welp, let's make sure to text each other tonight so we all know what's goin' on."

* * *

The nice thing about having gotten lost on her first day was that Aki now knew exactly where most things in Yongen were located- she'd seen them all about three times that morning, after all. Finding the clinic wasn't a problem at all. The real issue arose when she actually arrived there- she found herself standing right outside the door with absolutely no idea how to get the medicine Morgana apparently wanted. "So… You got a plan for this?"

"Not really. I can't talk to her, so it's up to you." Morgana shuffled out of the bag to take her position against Aki's shoulder- something she seemed to like doing whenever the girl wasn't moving. "Do you know what you're gonna say?"

Holding back a comment about how she shouldn't have been made to come here without a plan, Aki bit her lip as she stared at the front doors. "I guess I just have to make something up." _Wow, lying to a doctor in order to get drugs. Maybe you are a criminal in the end._

"It's not like we can just explain the Palace to normal people." Morgana nodded, jumping right back into the bag. "That's probably the best way to do it. Make sure you leave a little bit of the zipper on this bag open when you close it, okay?"

Aki sighed, nodding as she zipped the bag up far enough to hide any evidence of feline activity, giving the door one final stare as if she could somehow glare it into submission. With that obviously failing, she did what had usually worked in the past- she sucked it up and walked in.

Aside from some decidedly quirky posters about flu safety, the clinic seemed safe. It certainly wasn't anything fancy- exposed light fixtures hanging from the ceiling, dingy white tiles on the floor, and a fake plant that still managed to look wilted-, but it wasn't that bad. The slightly unusual atmosphere seemed to suit the familiar blue haired woman typing away at a computer behind the desk. Raising her head as the door was open, she regarded Aki with a neutral expression. "... Is this your first visit?"

The student had been so caught up inspecting the woman's outfit (a punk dress under a labcoat?) that she almost missed the question. "Oh, yeah. I… I think I saw you at Cafe LeBlanc last night?"

Goddammit, that didn't have any relevance to this situation. Why'd she even say it? Her nerves over how she was definitely, absolutely, 100% committing a crime weren't the only reason she was so useless all of a sudden, but the other reason was too embarrassing to address even in the privacy of her own head. _Come on Kurusu, this really isn't necessary every time you see a beautiful woman_. For her part, the doctor seemed to shrug the comment off, merely stretching her arms out behind herself a bit. "Hm. Well, whatever. How can I help you today?"

Oh shit, reason for being here, reason for being here! "It's- I've been having chronic nightmares lately, so…" That was half-true (the Velvet Room wasn't exactly a _fun_ dream), but as her dad used to say, being half-truthful made about as much sense as being half-pregnant. Aki sincerely hoped the doctor didn't hear Morgana's exasperated sigh over the bespectacled girl's excuse.

Apparently she didn't, as she doctor only regarded her with a blank look before shrugging, rising to her feet. "... Very well, then. Please come to the exam room."

Following the woman's lead, Aki obediently pushed open the door to the exam room before taking a seat on the red stool positioned across from the rolling chair that the doctor was currently taking her own seat in. Though the student hadn't noticed it before due to the positioning of the desk, the woman's outfit was made even more wildly out-of-character for a healthcare professional with the low cut skirt and strappy platform heels. City styles were… interesting. _Stop looking at her thighs, moron._ Bringing her eyes back up, Aki met the doctor's disinterested gaze just as the woman started to speak. "Nightmares, hm? When did this all start?"

Taking a deep breath in, Aki started to explain- sort of. She did decide to be honest about her conviction, for one. Thinking logically, a doctor would eventually learn about it by going through her medical history (and learning about the checkup she'd been required to have at the hospital after the incident with the drunkard), so Aki wanted to have the woman learn about it in her own words. After explaining that they'd started after arriving in Tokyo (which was also true), the doctor nodded as if she'd heard this all before.

"... I see. In a case like yours, it's mostly due to stress." Bringing up her clipboard to scribble something down, the doctor (apparently named Takemi, Aki deduced as she got a closer look at the woman's name tag) sighed slightly. "I'll prescribe you some sleeping pills. They should keep you from waking up before morning. Would you prefer a sweet-tasting pill or a bitter one?"

Well, _that_ wasn't what she needed. Aki cleared her throat a bit, attempting to project some of Arsene's confidence into her words. "Are sleeping pills all you have, miss?"

Hm. She _sounded_ confident, yes, but the bespectacled girl realized too late that her word choices made her sound terribly suspect- Kind of like a teenager trying to illegally access drugs. Which, y'know, she was. Takemi seemed to notice too, judging by the raise of her eyebrow. "All I have in stock, anyways. Now, let's not beat around the bush." Straightening out her slouched posture, she stared Aki down coldly enough to make the girl subconsciously shrink into herself a bit. "You aren't sick at all, are you? It's rather foolish to try and trick a medical professional like this."

Aki swore she could hear Morgana curse from inside her bag. The girl herself could only sit there, gradually getting paler and paler as Takemi went on. "You're a kid with a record who's not satisfied with just sleeping pills for a non-existent sleeping condition. You're not exactly Frank Abagnale. I'm going to go ahead and guess that you're here because of the rumours about my medication."

"... Are the rumours true?" Aki was caught already, a fact she was acutely aware of as she deflated slightly in her chair. No need to drag on her failed con any longer and embarrass herself.

Takemi shrugged, leaning back in her chair casually. "Who's to say, really? What I know for certain is that I get a lot of new patients lying to get drugs now." Her gaze turned back to Aki. "Though teenage girls certainly don't make up a significant fraction of those patients. If your boyfriend is talking you into this, I recommend breaking up with him as soon as you can. It'll save you heartbreak later."

"Wha- no, it's nothing like that!" The ashen colour on Aki's face was quickly replaced by red as she tensed up at the mere suggestion. "I don't have a boyfriend, I just… I'm having a bit of a tough time in the city, so…"

Again, not _exactly_ a lie. The doctor seemed almost amused by Aki's outburst, but it was really hard to tell with her subdued expressions. Shrugging, she held her clipboard up straighter. "Mm, you don't seem to be in an easy situation. I suppose I can prescribe you some medication." Noticing the alarm in the black-haired girl's eyes, Takemi allowed a smirk to flicker at the edge of her lips. "Easy there. It'll only be medication that helps you recover your health. Despite the record, you don't seem like a dangerous person, and it might be better for you to get it here than to go crawling Tokyo for some."

Leaning to the side to pull something up on her computer screen, Takemi hummed lightly as she continued on. "Now, this is my private practice. All the medicine I dispense here is original- you may have seen some of my products being sold at hospitals. As such, me selling you some of my stock directly won't raise too many red flags."

That had gone from extremely bad to pretty damn good in an instant, hadn't it? Aki was sure her face displayed her thankfulness, but she made sure to bow anyways. "Thank you so much, I really appreciate it."

"Great. It's good to see someone who doesn't ask too many questions about it." Takemi's lips formed into a small smile as she tapped a few other things out on her keyboard, the printer next to her humming to life. "On the topic of questions, I do wonder what you need it for… But I won't pry too much. Don't do anything stupid, please."

Grabbing the freshly-printed sheet from her printer, the doctor leant over, handing the still warm paper to Aki. "Here's my selection and the prices. Take your time."

* * *

Aki had bought what she'd _hoped_ was a reasonable amount. She'd made a fair amount of money fighting Shadows (was what they dropped legal tender…? She hoped so), and picked out what she thought would help the best without too much concern over prices. It ended up being surprisingly informal, Takemi simply wrapping her choices in a white paper bag and handing them off. That would have been the end of it, and had the walls of this clinic not been so thin, Aki wouldn't even have remembered the businessman who hurriedly pushed in after her.

Takemi's voice sounded cool and calm through the walls. "Sir, you can't be in here right now. You'll need to take a number and wait outside while I-"

"Enough of this nonsense!" The man's angry retort was what caught Aki's attention (and Morgana's, judging by how the cat pushed her head past the zipper to crawl out of the bag as soon as the voices could be heard). "You know who I am, Doctor, and you're the only one who can design that rumoured medicine!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Amazingly, the woman's voice sounded as collected as she had before. Aki found herself inching closer to the door as the conversation carried on.

The man didn't sound anywhere near as collected. "Don't play dumb with me! People are saying your newest medication can give someone unimaginable power. Something like that violates every damn health regulation in the country! If you're selling stimulants, the media will be on this like a fly on shit. Do you really intend to disgrace the medical community again, Takemi?!"

"I'm afraid you have me confused with someone else. I'm just a normal practitioner." Aki could almost imagine the woman's blank expression, even with all these accusations being hurled in her direction. Still, the black-haired girl took a mental note of something the furious man had said. _Unimaginable power…?_

"A 'normal practitioner' with a black spot the size of the damn planet on her career! Your mistake cost lives, and I won't let you continue to sully the name of Tokyo medical professionals. You need to dispose of those drugs right away and resign before your schemes hurt someone again!" The man only seemed to be getting angrier, and Aki's head started to swirl with confusion. What had Takemi been doing before all this? However, something interrupted her thoughts- her own body betrayed her when she abruptly let out a sneeze, causing the man inside to pause his rant. "Who the hell is out there?" Had his voice gotten closer?

"Crap! Come on, let's get going!" Morgana meowed in a panic, and Aki couldn't agree more as she turned on her heels and ran for the exit, pushing open the clinic door and taking the stairs back to the street two at a time.

Once she had gotten far enough away from the clinic- all the way to the second hand shop, in fact- Aki finally paused to breathe. "That was cutting it too close, they seriously almost caught us."

"But think about the intel we have now!" Morgana fully emerged from the bag to prop herself up on Aki's shoulder, something she'd taken a liking to doing. "A medicine with that kind of power, even if it is kind of exaggerated, could seriously help us in taking down Kamoshida! We really should come back when that man isn't here."

"I guess you're right. Still freaks me out a little, though." Shrugging just as the familiar vibration of her phone could be felt through her blazer pocket, the girl opened up the chat app to see the group chat in use. 

**Ryuko** : yo, i just remembered something!

 **Ann** : oh? what is it?

 **Ryuko** : theres a shop on central street that sells these super cool model guns. i used to go there all the time in middle school

 **Ann** : iiiiiiiim gonna guess they didnt take you very seriously back then?

 **Ann** : i cant imagine some lil girl in a sailor uniform with that long black hair getting handed a fake rifle so easily

 **Aki** : wait wait wait

 **Aki** : ryuko had long hair once?

 **Ryuko** : of course not!

 **Ann** : you absoloutely did! it was all pretty and silky, i have the class pictures around here somewhere

 **Aki** : oh my gooooooood i cant even imagine that (*≧艸≦)

 **Ryuko** : okay MAYBE i did

 **Ryuko** : my mom didnt lemme do what i wanted with my hair til high school! thats it!

 **Ryuko** : anyways we're way off topic

 **Ryuko** : i was gonna say that im down to show u two where the airsoft shop is tomorrow

 **Ann** : i actually cant tomorrow, sorry. I have plans to see shiho in the hospital

 **Ann** : you guys can go ahead without me

 **Ryuko** : ah, gotcha

 **Ryuko** : how about you, aki?

 **Aki** : i'm free as long as i'm back before dark

 **Ryuko** : ok! meet me in front of the hachiko statue around noon, k?

 **Aki** : got it! see you (￣∇￣) 

"Making plans for tomorrow, huh? Very wise." Morgana spoke up, having read the conversation from where she was perched on Aki's shoulder. "Hopefully the model guns are realistic enough for our line of work."

The black haired girl snorted. "How professional."

"We are professionals! Well, I am. You're all my trainees." Tail swishing proudly, Morgana moved back to settle into the bag. "We can save all that for tomorrow, though. Let's head back- the sun is getting low."

Turning her eyes up, Aki noted the orange sunset bathing over the city skyline. It looked beautiful from down here- she could only imagine the view you might get if you were overlooking Tokyo from a higher point. It had to be breathtaking. But she couldn't afford to go on any sightseeing adventures right now, not when there was a probation officer awaiting her at the cafe. Stuffing her phone back in her pocket, Aki set off for LeBlanc.

* * *

The evening hadn't been in any way eventful. Despite it having been Saturday night, Morgana was still insistent on Aki going to bed far earlier than she would have liked. _Maybe her real form is that of a nagging mother_ was the one grumbling thought that followed the student into her uneventful (and Igor-less) dreams. The benefit of having such an early bedtime imposed on her meant that she was up with the sunrise even without her alarm clock, which gave her plenty of time to get an outfit ready.

What _would_ she wear? Her hair was pulled into low braids as always- it had become second nature at this point- but that didn't solve the problem of clothes. Fashion had never really been Aki's forte- part of growing up in a rural town meant simply choosing what looked easy and comfortable to move in. Now, though, in stylish Shibuya, her outfits seemed quite lacking. After a bit of deliberation, she decided on a simple pair of fitted jeans, black flats, and a slouchy black cardigan with a white shirt underneath. Nothing special, but it wasn't completely offensive to the eyes, so it would do for now. Her early waking gave her some extra time to apply the makeup she'd forgone when starting school (didn't preppy girls' schools like Shujin usually have makeup bans, anyways? Aki hadn't checked, but she didn't need to be in any more trouble), the girl taking her time as she applied the product she hadn't touched in ages. Her eyes drifted towards a tube of red lipstick- _what had been drawing her towards that colour recently?_ \- before deciding against it. Her outfit was too casual for something like that, but maybe for another day. After helping Morgana settle into her brown messenger bag, the student was off.

If some of the flashy girls on the train ride there had made Aki anxious over her own plain fashion choices, Ryuko was right next to the Hachiko statue, prepared to soothe those worries. The only thing that seemed to have been made with women in mind were her black jeans and ever-present scrunchie. The loose shirt with the weird face logo (odd t-shirt prints seemed to be kind of a Ryuko staple at this point) and the big purple jacket were definitely created to be worn by someone who was decidedly not a five foot four high school girl. Regardless of her questionable fashion choices, Ryuko flashed a toothy smile at Aki as she approached. "So the country bumpkin made it here all by herself."

"I've been here long enough to get an idea of how to use the trains, you know." The black haired girl snorted, rolling her eyes. "Where are we going, city slicker?"

Laughing in return, Ryuko turned towards Central Street, a gaze sent backwards implying that Aki should follow. "The store's called Untouchable. Basically-" She paused her speech as things around her got too loud for a moment. There seemed to be someone giving a speech up on a soapbox, but he himself was difficult to hear. It sounded like Morgana had said something from her bag, but god knows nobody could make it out. Shibuya was crazy busy… Aki turned her attentions back to Ryuko as soon as they were out of the thickest sea of people, hurrying a little to catch up with her blonde friend as the girls navigated the scramble crossing. "- Damn, that was loud. But basically, it's this shop that sells super realistic fake guns n' stuff!"

"By stuff, do you mean melee weapons?" As they made it onto Central Street itself, Aki's mind wandered back to the knife she'd gotten from the Metaverse. Though it had sliced Shadows with ease, it seemed to be made out of tough plastic and wood as soon as she'd returned to the real world with it. Currently, it was stashed in the brown box she used to store clothes, nestled directly among her underwear for the sole reason of keeping Sojiro from finding it. He didn't seem like the kind of guy to willingly dig through a girl's stuff like that- a fact she was using to her advantage.

"Yup! So I bet we can get some stuff that'll totally kick ass! C'mon, down this alley." Ryuko took a sharp turn, Aki trailing just behind her as she was lead into a less-than-legitimate looking alleyway full of seemingly abandoned bicycles. Just before the deserted bikes stood a single storefront, windows plastered with suspiciously vague posters about sales and deals. The neon sign- 'Untouchable'- leered overhead like a watching eye. Aki couldn't help but feel the tension rise as Ryuko pushed open the door.

The inside of the store was every bit as discomforting as the outside. Uncovered lights dangled from the ceiling, basking the store in an eerie dim glow. Model guns of varied styles and sizes lined the walls, and Aki's general lack of knowledge surrounding weapons only increased the intimidation factor as she found herself surrounded by them. Ryuko, for her part, seemed mostly unphased- probably because she'd been in here before. Turning to her teammate, the blonde smiled brightly. "Pretty cool, huh? Look at all this stuff!"

"If you're not buyin', don't loiter." A gruff voice spoke up abruptly, causing Aki to visibly flinch. Distracted by the guns and eerie atmosphere, she hadn't noticed the gruff looking man reading a magazine behind the counter, feet kicked up like he was relaxing at home. Scruffy, dressed like the kind of guy she'd been instructed to avoid, and with a visible tattoo on his neck… Well, the man didn't seem to be the friendliest looking guy.

"We are buying!" Ryuko shot back, perhaps a bit more aggressive than she had to be. "We're just lookin', jeez."

Maybe now wasn't the time for the blonde's hostile responses to any sort of authority figure- not in sketchy back alley shop surrounded by guns (hopefully fake guns, but still!). Pushing her nervousness to the back of her mind, Aki cleared her throat. "Actually, we were looking for recommendations. Do you have any realistic looking models?"

That may not have been the right thing to ask, as the man narrowed his eyes considerably. "Are you planning on pulling some kind of stunt, kid?"

Yeah, _definitely_ not the right thing. Aki hoped the nerves didn't show on her face as she tried to keep a neutral expression. "Nothing like that. It's just… We've both wanted to get into collecting guns for a while now, so we're not sure what to look for right now."

The man's demeanour seemed to change in an instant. One moment he was bored and suspicious, and the next, a switch seemed to have been turned in his brain. Folding his magazine on the counter, the man swung his feet down to take a more proper sitting position. "That so? You shoulda told me up front that you two are enthusiasts. I'm too used to punks daring each other to come in here like it's some game. I'm always up to help fresh faces."

Ryuko muttered something rude under her breath, but the man either didn't hear it or chose to be the adult in the situation and ignore it as he went on. "Few base rules before I show you any of the models here. Don't be stupid and go around pointing it at people, and don't take it out in public. Easy way to get yourself arrested. Speakin' of which, avoid the fuzz when you're carrying. Last thing I need is more damn officers sniffing around here."

What exactly was this guy doing that warranted cops…!? Either way, Aki just nodded in response. "Of course. We'll be careful."

"You damn well better be." Responding in a gruff tone, the man got to his feet, rotating one foot a bit to get some circulation back into it. "I'll get the beginners' selection out. Just wait here."

As the man disappeared into the back room, Ryuko turned to Aki with a certain glee on her face. "Hah! I could never get him to give me anythin' back in middle school. Guess I just look more mature now."

Aki felt a smile creep onto her lips. "Or a bit more like some kind of delinquent."

"Man, shut up." Rolling her eyes, Ryuko's face still kept her happy smile. "Anyways, mind if I leave the choosin' to you? Since you're our leader and all."

"Fine by me," Aki shrugged. "I'll try to pay with the money we got from the Palace, but I did spend a decent chunk on medicine the other day."

"Oh! Damn, I almost forgot." Digging her hand into her jacket pocket, Ryuko produced several crumpled bills (that she'd just held there without a wallet, evidently?) and handed them off to Aki. "Here's 5'000 yen. I think he likes you better than me already, so maybe you should do the buyin'. Make sure to get me somethin' super badass, okay?"

Though it might have made sense for the bespectacled girl to be annoyed by the responsibilities she was being handed as the de facto leader, Aki certainly didn't feel any resentment. Given her somewhat lonely background, a group of people depending on her felt… nice. In any case, she took the money just as the surly manager returned, catalogue in hand.

"Here's a good place to start. Take your time."

* * *

Having parted ways with Ryuko after selecting the weapons (deciding to forgo getting new, expensive guns for everyone in exchange for getting everyone new melee weapons and some decent protection), Aki didn't even realize how late it was getting until Morgana started warning her about Sojiro. Luckily, she got back to LeBlanc just as they were closing up- something evidenced by the sass the owner was giving a particularly chatty customer just as Aki was walking in. Awkwardly being witness to Sojiro's shutdowns of everything the other man said, the customer just sighed, leaving some money on the table before heading to the door.

Seemingly only noticing Aki as she moved out of the way for the customer, Sojiro raised an eyebrow. "... What are you doing? If you're bored, I have dishes that need washing."

Yeah, she'd rather avoid that, especially when she had a bag full of fake weapons that needed to be stashed upstairs. Before the girl even knew what she was doing, her thoughts had snuck past her brain's filter and were now escaping her lips. "How are you still open?"

It was a genuine mistake, but Sojiro seemed no less annoyed as the girl's eyes widened, her mouth slamming shut. "My business practices aren't of any concern to you. I don't keep up a fake smile at this establishment."

Her next words were more cautious, but no less inquisitive. Sure, Aki really should just put her head down and head upstairs, but the fact that Sojiro hadn't started yelling at her or threatening to kick her out was likely a sign that she hadn't pushed too far yet. "Has it seriously been working so far?"

"Like I said, none of your concern." The older man turned to rearrange some of the coffee jars behind him, although he continued to talk. "If the customers don't like it, they're free to go somewhere else. This store is my personal hideaway, and I have no time for irritating people. Of course I'd be screwed if I lost it, but so would you. You should pull your weight around a little more while living here."

What exactly did he want her to do…? Work here or something? With no examples, Aki had nothing to go on, and simply stepped to the side to let Sojiro by her as he moved around the counter. "Anyways, I'm leaving now. Don't cause any problems."

"I won't." A thought hit her, and before Aki knew what she was doing, she was speaking again. "Have a safe walk home, Sakura-san."

Though he paused in what seemed to be surprise, what was even more surprising was what followed- Sojiro nodded, not turning around, and _responded_. "... Thanks."

An awkward pause followed before the older man opened the door, closing it behind him. Aki turned around to hurry up the stairs, mostly to avoid accidentally catching the man's eye through the glass door. Dropping her bag on the ledge upstairs, Morgana hopped out, stretching her legs. "He really doesn't seem to like you that much, does he?"

"I'm still just a no-good criminal to him, so it makes sense." The girl gave a half-hearted shrug, reaching down to slide her shoes off and place them next to the stairs. "Even so… Tonight wasn't so bad. Maybe it'll improve soon."

Before Morgana had a chance to respond, Aki's phone started to buzz. Pausing, she reached down to pull it out of her pocket, revealing a private message from Ann. 

**Ann** : so, i went to see shiho in the hospital today…

 **Aki** : ah, that was today, wasn't it? how is she doing?

 **Ann** : her condition has stabilized. they dont know when she's going to regain consciousness.

 **Aki** : it's good that she's no longer critical, at least.

 **Aki** : i'm sure she'll be alright in the end, especially if you're there to support her

 **Ann** : yeah… i just have to believe in her

 **Ann** : she's so strong and brave, i know she's going to get better. i know she will

 **Ann** : but even so… i'm never going to forgive kamoshida for what he did to her

 **Aki** : we'll make absolutely sure he pays for what he did. he can't get out of it this time

 **Ann** : you're right. for shiho's justice… for the justice of all the other people he's hurt

 **Ann** : speaking of other people, though… is it alright if i ask you something?

 **Aki** : of course, what is it?

 **Ann** : this might be a bit personal after everything that happened recently, but… do you know what kamoshida did to ryuko?

 **Ann** : there's so many rumours floating around, but all ryuko told me personally is that they got into an altercation and he broke her leg

 **Ann** : this sounds silly, so please don't laugh, but… we were on the roof the other day before you were, and we ended up talking for a few minutes.

 **Ann** : when we mentioned kamoshida, she had this look in her eyes. he was mad, yeah, but… something was hurting her

 **Ann** : just for a second… she looked like shiho did 

All it took was that one line for Aki's stomach to drop, her breath catching in her throat. She could feel Morgana tense on her shoulder, where she'd previously jumped up to read the messages. 

**Ann** : if something happened to her, i want to make sure we're fighting for her justice in the way she wants

 **Aki** : honestly, i don't know either. the only thing i know for certain is that kamoshida broke her leg, that he spread rumours about her, and that he tried to extort her in exchange for us not being expelled

 **Aki** : she's not really the type of person who would willingly ask for help, but im not sure how to approach it

 **Aki** : im just sort of hoping she'll tell us when she's ready or if it becomes relevant

 **Ann** : yeah…

 **Ann** : anyways, i'm sorry for asking you all that.

 **Aki** : it's alright, you had a reason to

 **Aki** : today must have been pretty draining, so get some rest, okay? we'll probably enter the palace tomorrow

 **Ann** : right, we need to take him down as soon as we can

 **Ann** : thanks for talking with me, aki. we're gonna bring kamoshida what he deserves

 **Aki** : absolutely! let's do our best 

Despite the instinctive heart emoticon to try and cheer the mood up, Aki was left with a pooling unease. From what she knew of Ann so far, she was a deeply empathetic girl who could tell when the people around her were suffering, especially when a certain gym teacher was involved. So for her to compare Ryuko to Shiho… Something was clearly not being said. Kamoshida clearly had his claws sunken into the lives of both blonde girls- the question was just how _deep_ they were.

Morgana cleared her throat, breaking through Aki's silence. "Well… I was thinking we need to start making infiltration tools tonight. Why don't you clear off that desk in the corner? It'll be the perfect place."

"Huh? Oh, right. Sure thing." Stuffing her phone back in her pocket, Aki mentally thanked Morgana for taking her out of a train of thought that she did not want to entertain. For the rest of the evening, the black haired girl was able to lose herself in the construction of her lockpicks, finding herself enjoying the rhythm it allowed her to fall into. Even so, the conversation from before hadn't fully abandoned her. In the back of her mind, running down her spine and twisting her gut, a question remained.

 _What happened to you, Ryuko Sakamoto?_

* * *

And that's all for this chapter! Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have a fantastic rest of your day!


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